POSTPONED: Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Due to snowstorm...
First Congregational United Church of Christ 1609 University Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53726
We regret to announce that due to winter weather, tonight's screening of PrisonTerminal
(scheduled for 7-9 at First Congregational Church in Madison) has been canceled.
We will do our best to reschedule.
press release: On Wednesday, January 25, 2017, two local community outreach groups—The Great Circle Collaborative and The Prison Ministry Project—will host a special screening of and discussion around the award-winning documentary film: PRISON TERMINAL: THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVATE JACK HALL. Oscar®-nominated in 2014 in the category of Documentary Short Subject, the film goes behind the walls of the Iowa State Penitentiary, one of America’s oldest maximum-security prisons, to tell the story of a terminally ill World War II veteran serving a life sentence for murder. Drawing from footage gathered over the course of six months, PRISON TERMINAL follows inmate Jack Hall and the hospice volunteers who provide end-of-life care for him in an on-premises hospice unit staffed in part by fellow prisoners.
The event will take place from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, located at 1609 University Avenue, in Madison. After viewing the film, which is about 40 minutes long, attendees will have the opportunity to hear commentary from the producer, Edgar Barens, and to engage in dialogue with him and several others involved in prison projects and end-of-life care programs in Wisconsin.
Nearly 20% of prisoners in U.S. penitentiaries are elderly. Over the next decade, approximately 100,000 inmates, many serving life sentences, will die alone in their cells experiencing undue physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. As a result, some prisons have responded by creating hospices that enlist inmate volunteers to help provide a higher quality of care for terminally ill prisoners.
The film shows how the hospice experience can profoundly touch the lives of the incarcerated, both those nearing death, and those who may find a measure of redemption in caring for inmate patients. One prisoner volunteer says he feels good helping others, noting, “For once, I’m somebody that nobody thought I could be.” The experience can also have a deep impact on the families of ailing prisoners. Don Skinner, Hall’s once-estranged son, visits him in prison throughout the final days of his life and believes the prison caregivers have changed his father. “It’s you guys that have shown the compassion to my dad,” Skinner says. “And my dad ain’t the guy he used to be.”
PRISONTERMINAL Director and producer Edgar Barens has made documentaries, experimental shorts, music videos and PSAs. For the past ten years, his documentaries have explored issues in the American criminal justice system, and prisons across the country now use his work as teaching and training tools. He received his BFA in film and photography and MFA in cinematography from Southern Illinois University. He is currently social documentary developer in the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
All are invited to attend this unique event. Although there is no set charge to attend, a suggested donation of $10 or more per person at the door is encouraged and welcome. All proceeds will be used to cover travel expenses for the producer and to benefit The Prison Ministry Project. For more information about the event, please call Karen at (608) 444-8327.