North Country Catholic, Courier-Observer, and Rural News
POTSDAM – It’s impossible to watch the documentary “Garry and Harry” without a lump in your throat.
It starts out as a lump of sadness, and 24 minutes later, as the film draws to a close, the lump is still there, but the emotions felt by the viewer are no longer feelings of sadness, but those of immense pride and admiration for the film’s subjects.
“Garry and Harry” is directed by budding Potsdam filmmaker Steven Madeja, and the short documentary looks at the life of Fathers Garry and Harry Giroux – twin brothers who are both Roman Catholic priests.
As the film was being made, Father Harry was in the mid-stages of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, and his brother, Father Garry, had taken on the role of caregiver at St. Mary’s Rectory in Potsdam as he watched the sibling he knows better than anyone slip before his eyes.
“We have been both womb mates and room mates,” smiles Father Garry as he comes to terms with the reality that his twin brother will soon be unable to recognize him.
Award of Merit
The touching documentary won an Award of Merit at the 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in Florida recently, a major accomplishment for the 22-year-old filmmaker, a 2004 graduate of Potsdam High School and a recent graduate of Vassar College where he majored in film.
Madeja shot about 12 hours of film as he interacted with the Giroux brothers, trimming down his interviews to just under 25 minutes to create a documentary that is simultaneously poignant, inspiration, and heart-wrenching.
Not only does the film raise awareness about the cruelty and devastating effects of Alzheimer’s, but it forces the viewers to do their own soul searching on subjects many choose to avoid in life – until tragedy strikes.
Questions of faith, strength, love and loss and family bond hang in the air with every scene.
At one point in the film, Father Garry is asked if it was a difficult to make the decision to have his brother move into the rectory and to take on the role of being his brother’s keeper in addition to his own duties at St. Mary’s Parish.
“There really wasn’t much thought given to it,” says Father Garry matter-of-factly. “We are brothers, we are priests.”
Likewise, Father Harry candidly suggests that his training as a priest and his faith in God has allowed him to accept his disease with a sense of serenity and dignity.
“God will always be with you, no matter what, no matter where,” Father Harry tells us he recalled from his teachings shortly after learning he had Alzheimer’s Disease.
“After that, nothing bothered me, not at all,” he said.
The movie closes with a heart-tugging scene in which the two sit side by side.
Father Garry is reminding his brother that the day will soon come when Harry will no longer be able to recognize even his own twin sibling.
“It won’t matter. Not much,” Harry lovingly reassures his brother. “God is good.”
Madeja admits making the documentary and earning accolades for his work has been a bittersweet journey.
He says finding a balance between telling the Giroux story to the public and being sensitive to the Giroux family was a constant concern.
“I was very nervous about their approval,” said Madeja. “But I realized this is what film is for; it’s a vehicle for empathy.”
“I Just Started Crying”
“I remember putting together the ending,” Madeja said. “I just started crying.”
Madeja’s film “Garry and Harry” received an Award of Merit at the 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in the United States and attended by some 66,000 people.
Madeja is now completing a film internship in New York with Emmy-award-winning Helen Whitney Productions. His current project is a documentary on the subject of “forgiveness,” expected to air on PBS next year.
In addition, he recently completed work as a member of the film crew on the independent film The Last Days of April, which is scheduled to be shown at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Madeja is also co-founder of the North Country Film Society, along with Tyler Moulton, also a 2004 Potsdam High School graduate. Moulton received his film degree from the University of Buffalo in 2008.
The duo will host the second annual North Country Film Festival Jan. 9-11 in Potsdam.
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