My Father Sold Studebakers

1983, 27 min, b&w and color, sound

My Father Sold Studebakers is Sweeney's memorable video-portrait of his father, Ray Sweeney. Interweaving home movies and a series of interviews with his family, he constructs a humorous, resentful and often poignant portrait of his interaction with his father, who turned him out of the family home at age nineteen. In turn, his family focuses the camera on Sweeney himself, forcing the reluctant son to confront this difficult relationship. In an ironic conclusion, Sweeney cuts his hair and shaves his beard (once a point of contention), revealing an uncanny resemblance between father and son.

Producer/Director/Camera/Editor: Skip Sweeney. Co-Producer: Joanne Kelly. Interviewer/Co-Writer: Arthur Ginsburg. Music: Wilbur Stump. A production of Video Free America and the TV Lab at WNET/Thirteen. Executive Producers: David Loxton, Carol Brandenburg.