Starring Elliott Gould, Fred Melamed, and Judith Roberts, Fred Won't Move Out is a Family Drama about two grown children and their aging parents, as they struggle with the decision of whether or not the older generation should continue to stay in the home they have lived for fifty years.

Shot in the house where the director’s parents lived for five decades shortly after they moved out, the film's semi-autobiographical story is memorably acted by a small ensemble cast led by Elliott Gould. Shot in sequence in three weeks with a heady mix of improvisational work by both author Richard Ledes and his cast. The film's personal approach to its subject captures a universal story uniquely told.

I Imagine My Family Singing Together

My family when I was growing up lived on a dirt road in Katonah, a small town outside of New York City. Around a quarter mile from where we lived, the dirt road runs alongside a reservoir. The entire town of Katonah had been moved in 1897 to accommodate the expansion of the water system for New York City. Today beneath the water of the reservoir are the foundations of the old town. 

In 2009, my mother and I were taking a walk together, headed towards the reservoir, when she started to explain to me her interpretation of what seemed to me a random event of no particular importance but seemed to worry her. The object of her concern was an approaching car. Cars are rare on the dirt road but we did have neighbors and fishing is permitted on the reservoir. She explained that she thought the driver was intentionally driving towards her. The car continued driving past us. A few months later, she told us at Christmas that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. At first, I doubted this could be the case. Her own mother had retained an extraordinary memory at the end of her life, including after she had suffered a stroke.

From my mother I once learned—I don’t remember at what time—that when I was a small child and my brother an infant, she had been persuaded by her mother not to attend her brother Richard’s funeral. What I didn’t know until I uncovered it in my late 30s was that.. Read More