I loved CODA when I saw it virtually at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It felt like a true-to-life depiction of how a child of deaf adults, which is where the movie got its name from. That, and Ruby (Emilia Jones), is a singer, so there was a double meaning there with a musical coda, which denotes the end of a piece of music.

One of my biggest regrets since publishing my review of the film back when it was released on Apple TV+ in August of 2021 is only mentioning Troy Kotsur, who played Ruby’s father, Frank, and was the emotional heart of the film. For all of that awards season, I was kicking myself for not talking about him more. I felt like that review wasn’t representative of how great the acting was in that film, whether we’re talking about Kotsur, Jones, Daniel Durant, or Marlee Matlin.

Thankfully, Sean Schiavolin and the team over at the Emergent Order Foundation have given me an excuse to talk about Troy and give him the proper due he deserved almost two years ago with the biographical short, or bioshort, as I like to call it and invented in my interview with John Papola and Schiavolin, which will be out by the time you’re reading this, To My Father. The bioshort covers Kotsur’s journey to winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for CODA at the 94th Oscars as well as how his father inspired him to be the person he is today, despite a tragic accident.

The narrative of To My Father is well told, with Kotsur recounting his childhood memories of his father in the talking head format we’re all used to seeing, only to flip on its head mere seconds later with clips from Tom & Jerry or archival footage playing behind Kotsur. When I saw this, and this is no hyperbole, I was stunned. It’s deceptively simple, but it instantly made a story I was already compelled by and drew my attention even closer to the memories Kotsur was recounting.

This isn’t the only way Schiavolin pulls the viewer into the narrative. At points, an entire reenactment of Kotsur’s memories of that event takes place, and it somehow works seamlessly. If you asked me to explain why it works, the only explanation I can come up with is that the viewer is placed personally into Kotsur’s memories rather than simply hearing about them. So, essentially, the viewer can feel Kotsur's feelings at that moment.

Outside of Schiavolin’s creative decisions, Kotsur is an outstanding storyteller. There’s a section of the film where he describes how he struggled with his faith in God when he learned that his father had been in an accident, and I felt connected with him at that moment. When my dad died in 2014 due to complications brought on by his multiple sclerosis, I had that same struggle.

For a long time. For two months after his death, I experienced nightmares about his death, screaming internally. Nothing could shake that feeling. So, when Kotsur leaped out of his car, and it started raining and says, “I felt like God was crying with me.”, I felt that. Not just because of my experience’s with my dad’s death but because Kotsur was able to take me back to that emotionally raw place and feel as I felt almost a decade ago.

That’s a rare thing, and I hope Kotsur gets the opportunity to be this emotionally raw in whatever project he’s got next. I know I’ll be seated for it.

So, please check this short out. This will undoubtedly be a hit of the Tribeca 2023 shorts lineup. Its storytelling is efficient, its mesh of reenactments and interviews with Troy work to further the story, and multitudes can connect to it through their own experiences or through the lens of Troy’s work in CODA.

★★★★★

To My Father is playing at AMC 19th Street on June 8th at 8:15 PM, June 9th at 2:30 PM, June 17th at 3:30 PM, and June 14th at 6 PM Village Easy by Angelika as part of the 2023 Tribeca Festival shorts program Tapestry, which features shorts from about life-changing experiences, such as Miss Brown F, The Right to Joy, and Deciding Vote.

You can buy tickets to the Tapestry shorts here.

To My Father will also be screened from June 19th to July 2nd on the Tribeca At Home online platform. You can buy the Tribeca At Home Pass here.

Thanks to Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, and Brian Skuttle for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!

Until next time!