Wildflower

Matt Smukler after a successful career directing commercials for many world famous brands (including Nike, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Budweiser, Reebok, MTV, 20th AT&T, Absolut and McDonald's) and having directed a few shorts (The Hiccup (2012), The Mrs (2013), The Wake up call (2016) moves on to directing a feature film with the documentary Wildflower which was in the official selection of the Austin Film Festival. The documentary follows an 18-year-old track and field star as he juggles his efforts at school and the challenge of supporting his mentally disabled parents. For five years the director has followed this eccentric and endearing family.

Christina Stahl is an outstanding student with excellent results. She is the captain of the track and field team. She has a full-time job. She is an eighteen year old athlete who succeeds in everything she does by being totally invested in what she does. Yet Christina's life is not as ordinary as it seems. Her mother, Sheila Stahl, has an IQ of 59. Sheila. She can't read or drive, let alone manage money. Her father, Mike Stahl, was in a motorcycle accident as a teenager and suffered a head injury. Even so, his two estranged loved ones met and fell in love. They wanted nothing more than to have a family of their own and be normal, like everyone else. Christina had to make the difficult choice to stay at home and continue raising her parents or leave the family home she runs to go to university. By following this family's journey, director Matt Smukler portrays a portrait of America today, the integration of people with disabilities into our society, but most importantly, he shows us the important universal values that every family must respect.

Matt Smukler delivers a sincere film with universal resonance and shows us once again the importance of documentary film as a witness of our times. Through numerous situations of daily life and interviews, his film Wildflower is well worth discovering and will lead viewers to see the surrounding world in a different way. Even if Wildflower is a bit short for its duration, it goes to the essential and deserves to be discovered during its video release or on a streaming platform like Amazon Prime Video or Netflix.

Wildflower
Written and directed by Matt Smukler
Produced by Matt Smukler, Brian Weidling, Shannon Riggs
Starring Christina Stahl, Sheila Stahl, Mike Stahl
Music by Dara Taylor
Cinematography: Quyen Tran
Edited by Chris Callister
Running time: 76 minutes

Seen on October 27, 2020 (online access Austin Film Festival)

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