Filmmaker Andrew Garbus bravely shares his most private moments in the achingly poignant film, Everything I Own. Combining intimate handheld interviews with over 10 years of home videos, Andrew documents the tumultuous days leading up to the sale of his familial home as a result of his parents’ separation. Raw and unflinching, Everything I Own is a cinematic portrayal of the five stages of grief.

A House Divided

Often, the hardest stories to tell are the ones that hit closest to home. No pun intended, filmmaker Andrew Garbus knows this all too well. Armed with a camera and a quest for resolution, Andrew questions his parents, individually and together, about their impending divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage. Despite their honesty, their answers will never be enough to fill the hole in Andrew’s heart. The sale of the family’s Long Island home is the catalyst of the film, as well as a major pain point. The stability he once knew and relied on is essentially vanishing. Having already been predisposed to depression and anxiety, Andrew’s increasing helplessness is devastating. To make sense of his new reality, he turns to filmmaking, to which this documentary is the result.

Everything I Own is a highly emotional watch, and one can assume quite cathartic for Andrew. Through an abundance of tears and frustrated outbursts, Andrew is eventually able to emerge on the other side with a deeper understanding. Not all of his questions get answers, but that’s not the point of the film. To that end, it’s important to remember that his parents aren’t characters. They are real people, flaws and all, which is what makes this film such an effective watch.

Director’s Statement

“The film combines intimate vérité footage, handheld interviews, and decades of home videos. Its structure mirrors my psychological journey during that week, beginning with raw, reactive encounters and gradually moving toward quieter reflection. As both director and subject, I pass the camera between my parents and myself, shifting the balance of who is observing and who is being observed. Through that process, I try to understand not only the breakdown of my parents’ marriage, but the patterns of pain, avoidance, and love that shaped all of us.

The film does not attempt to provide definitive answers. Instead, it remains inside the uncertainty of what comes afterward: whether forgiveness is possible, what healing might look like, and how a family can grieve what it has lost without denying the love that remains. In making the film, I wanted to create one final family home movie, not as a record of the family we once appeared to be, but as an honest portrait of who we were becoming, and to find some hope amid the end of an era and the beginning of an unknown new chapter.” – Andrew Garbus

Takeaway

A powerful exploration of memory, fractured family dynamics, and deep pain, Everything I Own crafts a layered portrait of a complicated love. The film had its World Premiere at the 2026 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.