OBITUARY

Garrett Scott, filmmaker, 1968–2006

Garrett Scott, a widely respected young filmmaker whose documentaries received awards and broad acclaim, died unexpectedly Thursday, March 2, in his native Coronado, Calif., near San Diego. He died of drowning, due to a cardiac arrhythmia. Just 37 years old, Scott leaves behind a legacy as a trailblazing documentarian who tackled subjects such as war, power, and powerlessness with "a cold eye and a warm heart," as his codirector Ian Olds put it.

Just two days after his death, Scott and Olds were honored with an Independent Spirit Award for their documentary, Occupation: Dreamland, praised as a brilliant and complicated examination of the US intervention in Iraq. The film, noted as a Critic's Pick by the New York Times and lauded by Variety, the Village Voice, and other sources, offered a textured, critical, yet compassionate portrait of American soldiers' experiences in Iraq, which Scott filmed firsthand, sometimes at great personal risk. The film was on a short list of potential nominees for an Academy Award.

In a recent interview with buzzflash.com, an online film review, Scott explained his mission, saying the war was being defined by "a lot of rhetoric from journalists and media people, or Pentagon people and officers. I wanted to know what life was like for the men and women on the lowest end of the totem pole."

Amid Iraq's violence and chaos, friends and colleagues noted that Scott kept his lens focused with steady calmness and clarity — gathering powerful eyewitness material in sometimes treacherous situations while eschewing sensationalized war photography. "He was very brave, but he wasn't an adrenaline junkie," recalled writer and friend Christian Parenti, who covered the war with Scott in 2003. "Garrett was always confronting doubts and overcoming odds. He understood that to do good work, you have to go through painful, difficult things."

Scott's debut documentary, Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story (edited and cowritten by Olds), which he produced while waiting tables in San Francisco, explored the bizarre episode of one man's destructive tour of San Diego in a stolen US Army tank; the film was a quick hit and screened at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival and other prestigious venues.

Friends and family remembered Garrett Scott not only as an exemplary filmmaker but also as a spirited, adventurous, and genuine individual. "I just received a call from a couple in Columbia, Calif., who put up Garrett a few weeks ago [when they did a screening of Occupation: Dreamland]," his girlfriend, Rachael Rakes, recalled. "They called to tell me that even though they had only known Garrett for 48 hours, they felt like they already loved him and made a life friend. He was that kind and that real. I will miss him with all of my heart."

"I don't know if I've ever seen anybody with such a sharp mind but also a warm heart with so much compassion," Olds said. "I was always struck by his incredible integrity." Nancy Roth, a friend who produced his films for GreenHouse Pictures, added, "He was perhaps the most gracious and genuine person I have ever had the privilege to know."

Scott's father, Terry, recalled a son with "high intellectual interest and curiosity," who "challenged everything" and constantly defied obstacles. Scott was a strong swimmer and water polo player who also took great interest in music and poetry. "Garrett had reached a place of real maturity in his work. Like so many things in his life, he did it from the ground up and reinvented his own wheel. He was a great human being; no one ever defeated him. He never gave up."

At the time of his death, Scott was living in New York with Rakes and was developing documentary projects about Afghanistan and San Francisco politics in the 1970s. Scott was born in Munich, Germany, in 1968 and received his master's degree in English from the University of Wisconsin.

In addition to a wide community of friends and colleagues, Scott is survived by his mother, Lynne Uhlig Scott; his father, Terry Scott; his stepmother, D.B. Scott; his brother, Gavin, and his sister, Morgan. Memorial services will be held Saturday, March 11, at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Coronado, Calif. Many other events, in the Bay Area, New York, and elsewhere, are being planned to commemorate Garrett Scott's work. Contact www.occupationdreamland.com or rachaelrakes@yahoo.com for more information on upcoming screenings and events. (Christopher D. Cook)