I STILL LOVE YOU

Bob Pontius operated on children with heart defects. In the 1960’s he helped bring pediatric heart surgery to Bergamo, Italy. Then his life was altered by unexpected events. In the short documentary, “I Still Love You”, his photographer daughter, Diane Pontius, turns her camera on his life. Through candid stories about her father, she reveals his ferocious independence, commitment to an existential philosophy, and reluctance to accept medical treatment. He saw himself as a doctor, not a patient. Using hand-painted family photographs, her father’s 16 mm films showing him doing surgery, and iPhone video of him in more recent years, this first-time director artfully constructs a taut personal narrative about love, independence and individual differences.