The school hosted a Cinema Sundays screening of “Fortunate Sons,” a documentary following the Harvard School for Boys class of 1974, in Ahmanson Lecture Hall on Sept. 21. After the screening, the audience of alumni, faculty and current students asked questions to a panel featuring the film’s director Peter Jones ’74 and producer John Manilus ’74. Pat McCabe ’74, Harry Moses ’74 and Taylor Vracin-Harrell, a Supervising Producer at Peter Jones Productions, also participated in the conversation.

Before their 50th reunion in 2024, the members of the class of 1974 met on Zoom to reflect on their experiences spanning from childhood to the making of the documentary. Jones and Manilus drew from the video calls to capture the emotional journeys of men who faced unique challenges yet created strong bonds with their classmates as teenagers and later in life.

Manilus said he felt an obligation to highlight his classmates’ stories after hearing them speak so candidly about their experiences.

“The first Zoom happened because we all wanted to see some friendly faces, and it went so well that we decided to do it again the next month,” Manilus said. “By the end of the second meeting, I thought about how hard it is to get two guys to talk about life honestly, let alone 30 or 40 [of them]. If they were giving us that gift, we had to do something with it.

McCabe said the men are now able to speak openly with each other because their relationships are less competitive than they were as young adults.

“You saw a lot of trauma and tragedy in this movie,” McCabe said. “At this point, one of our classmates is living in his car and one of our classmates is the CEO of one of the largest private equity firms in the country. You have that kind of variance and you think, ‘how can they all mix together?’ It’s because no one cares anymore. We are entering our 70s, and [our differences are] really no big deal. With younger people, there is jealousy and animosity. Now, we are at a point in our lives where we can get it all out on the table.”

Sebastian Corman ’29, who attended the screening, said the movie helped him learn about the students who came before him.

“The documentary gave me a better sense of where I stand in the school’s history,” Corman said. “It gave interesting insight into the school’s past, how people who graduated have been living their lives and how the school affected them. We learn about alumni and the great things they have done, but this movie didn’t only focus on the positives. It also showed the difficulties these men have experienced and gave a unique view into their lives.”