The HBO Original documentary GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE: FACING A FAMILY’S SECRETS, directed by Amanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson, debuts TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5 (10:00-11:55 p.m. ET/PT). The documentary will debut on HBO and be available to stream on Max.
Synopsis: Amanda Mustard, a renowned photojournalist drawn to the power of truth-telling through the lens of her camera, returns home to Pennsylvania to investigate the multiple sexual abuse crimes committed by her grandfather. A visual whirlwind of memories from her family’s archive unravels a world of secrets and help illustrate a granddaughter’s unflinching attempt to disrupt a cycle of intergenerational trauma through the voices of the survivors and her grandfather himself.
An eight-year cinematic journey with revealing interviews, archival photographs, and intimate home movies, GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE: FACING A FAMILY’S SECRETS documents a personal journey to not only uncover, but also understand the impact her grandfather, a local chiropractor, had on her family after committing decades of serial sexual abuse, and explores the complexities of the silence that followed. Through her emotionally raw quest to expose the truth, Mustard’s investigation reveals decades of secrecy and coverups rooted in shame and self-deception and discovers the dysfunction lurking in her own family, eventually bringing her to uncomfortable and unexpected confrontations and reckonings. Finding the courage to dredge up painful memories, face her own feelings about her grandfather, and to have heartbreaking but healing conversations, Mustard explores the depth and breadth of her grandfather’s actions, laying bare a path for the survivors to shed light on the abuse in order to make sense of the past, find peace in the present, and empower them to move forward.
Featured Participants: Stark, confessional interviews with Amanda’s grandfather are complemented by insights and emotional conversations with Amanda’s mother and sister, who are both survivors, her uncle, her grandfather’s former employers, and survivors outside of the family.
Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents an Ark Media Production GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE: FACING A FAMILY’S SECRETS. Directed by Amanda Mustard and by Rachel Beth Anderson; produced by Amanda Mustard, Rachel Beth Anderson, Luke Malone; executive produced by Rachel Dretzin; co-executive produced by Dorin Razam-Grunfeld, Zach Herrmann. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez.
