When my grandmother passed away in 2020, I struggled for some time to process her absence. She had a larger-than-life personality–always prepared to talk your ear off and let you hear her latest outlandish take–but despite all her eccentricities, she had a unique ability to unite our family. As the youngest of my cousins, I wasn’t the closest with my grandma, but I loved and admired her, especially her musical talents. She was a lifelong folk and bluegrass musician–she played the dulcimer, guitar, banjo, canjo, jawharp, and sang–and made sure that her passion was passed down to her four sons. I spent my life watching her nurture musical interests in my dad and uncles, and in myself and my cousins. She came to every hometown show my dad played, even if she had to wear her earplugs, and hired my cousin’s band to play a family reunion. She customized their band t-shirts with hand-sewn pockets for her handkerchiefs, and transplanted collars from other shirts to make hers unique. I never got a chance to ask her what music meant to her and what it meant to the family, but these moments paint a picture of her love and the importance music had in it. 

With Sweet Young Thing, I wanted to focus on this love and how it weathers any issues that might arise in a grandparent/grandchild relationship. There were many things about myself I felt I could never share with my grandma (my sexuality being one), and many aspects of her personality I just didn’t understand. Along with this feeling, in the final stretch of her life, I was maturing and becoming aware of the challenges in my family, but all the while felt out of the loop, especially when it came to learning of her cancer diagnosis. In this film, I hope to lean into realistic emotion and visual style to capture the ways a family withholds information to protect a child, while exploring how a hurtful revelation doesn’t need to harm a relationship, but can strengthen it.

I believe this type of disconnect is common with a lot of grandchildren and their grandparents–you feel you can’t share everything about yourself with each other, but despite that the love you share remains. I hope that Sweet Young Thing creates a space for viewers to think about the persistence of love in their lives, with family or friends, and encourages them to view their loved ones with care, compassion, and the transcendence of an old folk song.