Carpenter crafts masterful portrait of mother’s love

For 19 minutes, the audience sat at full attention.
In a room filled with more than 100 people, an occasional ‘oooooh’, ‘aaaaah’ or chuckle were the only sounds heard, depending on what was happening on the big screen.
The crowd had gathered to watch Brandon, a documentary by Attawapiskat band member Lenny Carpenter. The film, which started off as a school project for the Confederation College film student, centres around Brandon Fox-Keesic, who was born with a rare brain disorder which renders him unable to walk, speak or sit.
In the film, which made its world premier at the Biindigaate Film Festival in Thunder Bay Sept. 11, his mother Adrienne Fox describes life with Brandon, her 17-year-old son.
“He’s like a big baby,” she said. “He depends on you for everything – bed, cleaning, food. His food has to be really mushy because he can’t chew.”
Through an interview and film shot of Adrienne performing her daily routines with Brandon, Carpenter offered a glimpse into the life of a mother with a special-needs child.
The interview spans Brandon’s life from his birth – seemed healthy, good weight – to the discovery of something being wrong – he couldn’t hold his head up at age six months – and the battery of test which followed.
Doctor’s gave Brandon’s life expectancy at two years with a diagnosis of neuronal migration disorder but Fox refused to give up on her little boy.
“I went through a grieving period,” Fox said. “But he hasn’t gotten any worse or any better since then.”
Though he is unable to speak, he can communicate in some ways with his family.
“He has some distinct looks and noises,” Fox said. “We try and keep him on a schedule.”
But if supper is a little late, she gets the stare.
Through all the ups and downs – including a winter 2010 health scare which required admittance to an Ottawa hospital with paediatrics specialties – Fox’s love for her son has never wavered.
“There’s nothing to change,” she said. “He gives us so much and brings so much to this family.”
Both Carpenter and Fox were thrilled with the film’s outcome.
For Carpenter, seeing his work on the big screen of the Paramount Theatre was surreal.
“I was very anxious,” he said. “I’m usually so critical of films I see on the screen. I was happy with it.”
Carpenter said it was the subjects – Fox and Brandon – who made the film what it was.
“I’m so appreciative of Adrienne for being so open about her life and her son,” Carpenter said between congratulatory messages in the lobby of the theatre after the screening. “Adrienne drives the story. She exceeded my expectations about how open she was.”
Carpenter shared some interesting information about the film with the audience after the screening.
Among the tidbits: the film was supposed to be no more than 10 minutes and he was docked marks in class because of its length; he didn’t film Fox and Brandon until a few days before the project was due and he pulled an all-nighter when it was due to get it in on time.
He was OK with losing marks in the class.
“If it was shorter, it wouldn’t have done the story justice,” he said, sounding like a filmmaker in the truest sense.
Carpenter feels he’s found his calling in film after dabbling in journalism for several years.
“I realized journalism wasn’t for me,” he said, while acknowledging it was his summer internship at Wawatay News several years ago which allowed him to meet Adrienne and Brandon. “I wanted to tell stories and I couldn’t really do that with words.”
In film, he can take more time and try and show more emotion. Carpenter worked on all aspects of the film.
“I enjoy shooting the most,” he said. “I want to continue working with the camera. But editing seems to come naturally to me. But the process is more tedious.”