Dear Zachary: Must Watch

Mamamia’s review is not wrong: this is one film you should watch. If you think documentaries are boring, or predictable, or lack a story, you should give this one a go. Re-released in 2018, with a new, additional ending, and currently available on Vimeo in the USA, it’s a film that takes you where you’re not expecting to travel. 

There are so many conclusions you may draw from the film. If you wonder why we’re sharing it here, you’ll see how it challenges some stereotypes, challenges our family law systems, and challenges us all – highlighting how we really do need a whole new approach to dealing with families and family breakdown if we’re to protect children and families from harm.

The 2008 version can be watched via Amazon here and on some other streaming services. Here’s the trailer, but we recommend that you just watch the film without knowing what to expect!

If you’ve watched the film – and you really should watch it before viewing this next video – then, see how this remarkable story was built up into a campaign for a change in Canadian law.

“As a group,” Zachary’s granddad David Bagby says, “judges are sitting in their ivory towers and have not been down to the morgue … they don’t have a friggin’ clue how horrible this is …”