A SISTER'S CALL, by Rebecca Shaper and Kyle Tekiela, was one of the most surprising, amazingly profound and personally triggering documentaries I have ever seen. The film description and trailers do not do it justice. I will try not to create any spoilers but it's easy to understand that a family member's problems are never unrelated to the rest of the family. As the film unfolded I was amazed at what was revealed. My family experience was so similar in many ways and after the film I was left emotionally raw.
The story line is about Rebecca Schaper who is looking for her brother, Call, who disappeared in the middle of college. He's schizophrenic, in that he hears voices and experiences extreme changes in personality. Instead of looking for help, he decided to run away for out of shame for his condition. He rode the rails, slept in filthy shacks and virtually lived like an animal. Twenty years later, Rebecca found him and tried very hard to bring him back to a normal existence, in spite of his mental illness.
For me, this film was less about Call and more about Call as a symptom of deeper dysfunction in Rebecca's family and about herself. I applaud Rebecca's family for opening themselves up to the documentary filming process and working through and dredging up deeply disturbing family secrets on film. I wished I had a family who was loving enough to really explore family issues like this. Rebecca, her husband and daughters bravely showed the audience how a family can delve into their past traumas and expose family secrets with the support of each other.
I highly recommend this film. The DVD is available for purchase on the film's website.