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FILMS
PRISON TERMINAL: THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVATE JACK HALL
A moving cinéma vérité documentary that breaks through the walls of one of Americas oldest maximum security prisons to tell the story of the final months in the life of a terminally ill prisoner and the hospice volunteers, they themselves prisoners, who care for him. A fascinating and often poignant account of how the hospice experience can profoundly touch even the forsaken lives of the incarcerated. Click on image to visit the website of this Oscar nominated documentary. [39:58]
THE VOLUNTEER
In November of 2017, Scott Dozier was to have been put to death at the Ely State Prison. His execution would have been the first in many ways; the first under a new governor, the first to take place in a new death chamber, the first in the town of Ely, and the first prisoner to be executed using a controversial never-before-used drug cocktail. But also unique was the fact that Dozier volunteered for execution. MARSHALL PROJECT [7:00]
A SENTENCE OF THEIR OWN
A chronicle of one family's annual pilgrimage to a New Hampshire State Prison and the damaging impact incarceration has on families. A poignant and heartbreaking film that makes visible what is rarely seen, the gradual descent of a family "doing time" on the outside. Winner of the CINE GOLDEN EAGLE and the NATIONAL COUNCIL on CRIME and DELINQUENCY PASS AWARD. [56:00]
ANGOLA PRISON HOSPICE: OPENING THE DOOR
Half of the 5,000 inmates at the maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola are serving life sentences, and it is estimated that 85 percent of them will grow old and die there. Angola Prison Hospice examines one of the nation's first prison-based hospice programs, a program that notably incorporates inmate volunteers into the care of other dying inmates. This documentary jumpstarted many prison hospice programs currently established throughout the US correctional system. [24:00]
SOON SPRING WILL COME
Soon Spring Will Come is a poignant documentary on the life and work of Mark Barens, father of the director, who immigrated to the United States after WWII along with his family. The film follows his early years as a "Latvian Cowboy" in Oklahoma and the chance meeting of a young Spanish girl in Bordeaux, France who became his wife and the mother of two boys in the American Midwest. The film chronicles Mark's development as an artist who, despite his stature as an immigrant, questioned the government through his politically charged artwork. [30:00]
HONEY & SALT
President Truman's radio speech concerning the Communist invasion of South Korea introduces this haunting reverie of love, war and death. Scenes of a young farm couple's short-lived time together are juxtaposed with the reading of four poems by Carl Sandburg, "Memoranda," "Kisses," "Can you come back like ghosts," "Explanations of love," and "To a dead man." These provide the narrative thread of the piece and commentary regarding the consequences of conflict. [14:00]
AUTOMONOSEXUAL
The term automonosexual describes the psychological state in which an individual is able to achieve sexual gratification by viewing their reflection. [This film] depicts the fantasy and self-fascination necessary for sexual narcissism, and serves as an autobiographical account of the sexual frustration and isolation felt in the face of the AIDS era. AVAILABLE AT CHICAGO FILMMAKERS / CANYON CINEMA. [3:00]
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