"51 Birch Street" - Trailer

Named one of the top ten films of 2006 by The New York Times and one of the top documentaries of the year by the National Board of Review, this unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking film tackles the human question of how much do you really want to know about your parents. Directed by independent filmmaker Doug Block -- whose last film was the Emmy-nominated documentary Home Page, 51 Birch Street is the first-person account of Block’s unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades of family secrets, and the ensuing reconciliation with his father. Spanning 60 years and three generations, 51 Birch Street weaves together hundreds of faded snapshots, 8mm home movies and two decades of verité footage, as it reveals what can happen when our most fundamental assumptions about family are called into question.