Memory lane

Rewind forward

All his life, Justin managed to escape his own story. But his past catches up with him when he finds a box full of old family VHS tapes. A film that begins as an homage to his deceased father develops into an attempt to no longer be a stranger to his own mother.

The past inevitably catches up with director Justin Stoneham when he moves back to his hometown of Lucerne, Switzerland. Finding his father’s family VHS recordings allows the director to rediscover his mother, and in the process see a side of her that he does not even remember.

Through this resolutely personal film, Stoneham reconciles the past with the present, making Rewind Forward an incredibly powerful and intimate documentary that will, for sure, give you the feels.

Via the old recordings, and naked self-examination, Stoneham brings to the screen genuine access to extremely compelling subjects, himself included. The context for these characters is tragedy - when Stoneham was four years old, his mother Karim had a brain stroke that left her unable to speak and partially paralyzed.

This is the only side of her he can remember, and in order to cope with the tragedy he distanced himself from her. His father Howard passed away while Stoneham was young, yet he is also an omni-present figure in the film, as he lovingly records his family and unknowingly memorializes the vibrant woman his wife was before her stroke.

All three figures prove to be deeply moving and inspiring individuals whose bravery and loyalty in difficult times can’t fail to leave tears in your eyes.