15 Reasons to Live

After encountering a familiar face at the local second-hand record shop who shared a list of 15 reasons to live, Alan Zweig felt an overwhelming urge to create a film on the topic, even though he confessed, “I never made lists and never pondered reasons to live.” This inspiration sparked a series of episodic segments based on the themes from Ray Robertson’s essay collection. The participants are as diverse as the list itself, offering personal stories related to themes such as work, love, intoxication, humor, solitude, duty, home, and death. Both amusing and occasionally poignant, Zweig’s empathy for his subjects and their narratives, conveyed through his informal and open interview approach, weaves these stories into a visual essay that delves into the deeper quest for meaning in life. Through his subjects’ reasons to live, Zweig discovers a few of his own in a heartfelt, sincere, and charming manner.