51 Birch Street

This rich documentary is about so many things: judgment, marriage, siblings, fathers and sons, aging and death. Initially intended just to capture footage of aging parents, 51 Birch Street became much more than a family movie when director Doug Block's mother died unexpectedly and his father almost immediately remarried his secretary with whom he worked 40 years earlier. In the course of helping his father pack up the house for an impending move to Florida, boxes of his mother's diaries are uncovered and their content completely re-writes the history of his parents' 54-year marriage.

I watched it twice. Fascinating to see how easy it is to judge when you don't have all the information. And so moving to understand the capacity of humans to change -- even after 50+ years.

Make sure to watch the bonus features on the DVD -- particularly the deleted scenes and award ceremony. The website, 51birchstreet.com, is also worth checking out for its stories that other people share about their parents, tips on capturing your family for posterity, and rules on documentary-making.