Post-film discussion with Newton Schwartz Sr. and director/producer Jonathan Schwartz

A reception in the museum galleries follows the screening.

A Houston story with universal appeal, this film essay is a character study of the filmmaker’s father, as well as a chronicle of a Houston Jewish family spanning the 20th century. Interviews with Seymour Schwartz (1919–2008)—passionate, outspoken, and possessing an exceptional memory—frame a family history richly illustrated by photographs, letters, and historical materials. Schwartz’s early life, service in World War II, and position at the family’s downtown tailor shop are detailed in three voices: his own, his older brother Leo’s and—in a hilarious sequence that will resonate for anyone who has siblings—his young brother Newton’s. The story is rounded out by poignant recollections of Seymour’s marriage and unlikely role as a community activist late in his life (including an article featuring him on the cover of the Houston Press). Twenty-five years after his first film—the acclaimed documentary This Is Our Home: It Is Not for Sale, about Houston’s Riverside neighborhood—Jon Schwartz delivers a riveting family portrait.