Abby, I Hardly Knew Ya is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Lindalee Tracey and released in 1995.Ken Becker, "A doomed life: Filmmaker searches for clues to dead father". Hamilton Spectator, May 3, 1995. The film is a portrait of her own search for information about the life of her biological father Albert "Abby" Tracey, whom she had never really known as he left her mother when she was only a baby, and made contact with her only one further time before dying, impoverished and living on skid row in Ottawa, in 1971.Tony Atherton, "Honest emotions on display; Film-maker's search for facts about her skid row father creates moving portrait". Ottawa Citizen, May 3, 1995. It features interviews with Abby's surviving friends and family, and concludes with Lindalee visiting his grave.
Tracey described the film as having little effect on her view of her father himself, but as having the positive side effect of enabling her to develop relationships with the paternal cousins she met through the film's production.Ted Shaw, "Shedding light on a dark past". Windsor Star, May 2, 1995.
The film had various film festival screenings, but was distributed primarily as an episode of TVOntario's documentary television series The View from Here.Greg Burliuk, "Alcoholic dad comes back to life". Kingston Whig-Standard, May 3, 1995.
The film received a Genie Award nomination for Best Short Documentary at the 16th Genie Awards in 1996.Rob Salem, "Lepage movie tops Genie list: Le Confessionnal nabs a dozen nominations as first-time directors dominate". Toronto Star, November 8, 1995.
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