Sobering Documentary ‘At the Death House Door’ to Premiere in Chicago From ‘Hoop Dreams’ Filmmakers

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:36:15 -0700

CHICAGO – The Texas “killer burger” is literally sold right across the street from a state-mandated death house that brings convicted felons to their legal demise.

While the death penalty is believed by many to serve a sort of justice to the guilty the majority of the time, what happens when the wrongly accused fall prey, too? Moreover, is it ultimately right to even treat the guilty with such eye-for-an-eye repercussion?

The documentary “At the Death House Door” from “Hoop Dreams” filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert will have a one-week engagement in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center beginning on May 10, 2008.
Image credit: The Independent Film Channel

The United States has wavered back and forth in its stance on the death penalty. Advocates for and opponents against it are large and fervent on both sides of the fence. Some 18 years later, Chicago Tribune reporters Steve Mills and Maury Possley in 2005 began investigating inconsistent evidence in the case of Carlos De Luna. He was executed in 1989.

Pastor Carroll Pickett in “At the Death House Door”.
Image credit: Kartemquin Films

De Luna’s investigation has prompted pastor Carroll Pickett to speak up. For 15 years, Picked served as the death house chaplain at the infamous “Walls” prison unit in Hunstville, Texas. As Pickett presided over 95 executions – including the world’s first lethal injection – he was each person’s sanctuary in their final moments.

The story of Pickett, De Luna and countless others is being told now in the “quiet powerhouse” documentary “At the Death House Door”. The film’s message is now heating up the country’s burners after its world premiere on March 9, 2008 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival.

“At the Death House Door” filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert already have potent storytelling power with audiences after the landmark 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams” (in which James directed and Gilbert produced). Gilbert is a Chicago native.

They’re bringing “At the Death House Door” to Chicago for a one-week engagement at the Gene Siskel Film Center starting on May 10, 2008 at 8 p.m.

For that screening, James and Gilbert will be in attendance along with executive producer Gordon Quinn (a founding member of “At the Death House Door” production company Kartemquin Films). The Tribune Company is also a production company for the film, which is being distributed by the Independent Film Channel (IFC). The film will air on IFC on May 29, 2008 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

With more than 405 executions under its belt since 1976 alone, Texas is far and away the leading state in the U.S. for executions by way of the death penalty. Since 1976 when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, 38 states have adopted the practice. Today, 37 states use lethal injections to execute inmates. Nebraska still uses the electric chair.

The film is prompting discussion for potential change. According to IFC: “On March 5, 2008 at the Texas capitol in Austin, a team of legal experts, elected officials and religious leaders met to discuss current issues surrounding the death penalty including lethal injection, criminal justice, wrongful conviction and the role of religion and values in executions. Each discussion was introduced by a clip [from] ‘At the Death House Door’.”

From 1976 to Sept. 28, 2007, 1,099 inmates were executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Following a seven-month national moratorium, the first Texas executions have been scheduled for this summer. Charles Dean Hood is scheduled in June 2008 and Larry Donnell Davis is slated for July 2008.

Stay tuned for the HollywoodChicago.com interview with directors Steve James and Peter Gilbert as well as seminal “At the Death House Door” interview subject pastor Carroll Pickett.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com