He interviewed his daughter on her birthday for 17 years. This is what he learned

By Ailsa Chang,

Gurjit Kaur, Sarah Handel

Published June 16, 2023 at 2:23 PM EDT

What does a modern childhood and father-daughter relationship look like? One man documented the journey.

Who is he? Jay Rosenblatt, an artist and documentary maker. And, of course, a father.

In his documentary, How Do You Measure A Year, he trains his camera on his daughter, Ella. Each birthday, he asks her a series of questions — often including responses to the same question years apart — and captures Ella's evolution from an active two-year-old to a reflective 18-year-old about to head off to college.
Rosenblatt has a master's degree in counseling psychology and previously worked as a therapist.
How Do You Measure A Year was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award.

What's the impact?

The documentary is incredibly intimate and, by its very nature as a long-running project, offers a rare documented insight into what a modern childhood can be like for an American girl.
Rosenblatt's questions to Ella include everything from "what is power?" to "how do you feel about our relationship?" and "what are you most afraid of?"
There are recurring themes, like Ella's love of singing, animals and her family. But there's complexity, too, as Ella grows older and mentions arguing with her Dad, and the value of making up afterwards.
On Ella's 14th birthday, Rosenblatt asks, "Are you happy?" To which the answer is: "Not really, but I'm working on it."
Rosenblatt's work often sets out to explore "our emotional and psychological cores," according to his website, examining things that "are personal in their content yet universal in their appeal."

What's he saying? Rosenblatt spoke to All Things Considered's Ailsa Chang about his documentary.

On including the parts about fighting:

On how he felt watching the footage for the first time while editing:

On how Ella, now 22, feels about the film:

So, what now?

Learn more:

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