Shane Koyczan reunites with estranged father in VIFF documentary

Spoken-word poet Shane Koyczan is renowned for his power with words and ability to speak frankly to his audience about tough topics like bullying, death and family.

A new documentary captures not only his poems but also shows a more personal side to the British Columbia-based artist — his reconnection with his estranged father.

Melanie Wood, the producer of Shut Up And Say Something, said she wanted to tell the story of the more private moments that are usually hidden behind fame.

"I like to be with people in those really human situations that we don't always get to witness," Wood told CBC host of North By Northwest Sheryl MacKay.

The documentary, showing at the Vancouver International Film Festival this month, includes footage from the past years of Koyczan performing on stage, at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and working on a piece commissioned by the Vancouver Opera.  

Emotional moments

The old footage is contrasted against video of Koyczan on his journey to reconnect with his father in Yellowknife, who he hadn't spoken to since he was a child.

"It's hard enough to imagine doing that let alone doing it with all of us trailing along behind him," Wood said.

She said it was challenging to convey the full emotional journey in minutes, rather than the days it took.  It also took time for Koyczan, who is used to telling his story through his own words, to open up to the filming crew.

"He's got where he is today by taking control of his own creativity, his own story, his own poems," Wood said.

"The challenge for us, both him and I, was to come to that place where he could trust us enough with what we were doing to tell his story."

'You can hear it in Shane's voice'

The moment Koyczan performs the poem he wrote about his father, called Origin, was one of the most emotional in the whole filming, Wood said, and sure to pull on the heartstrings of the audience.

"For the first time, Shane spoke those words in the poem out loud and we were all in tears," she said. "You can hear it in Shane's voice … everything that he had been feeling, creating and writing was just there."

Shut Up And Say Something is showing at the Vancouver Playhouse on Oct. 4 and Oct. 8.

With files from North By Northwest.