HERMAN'S HOUSE

a feature-length documentary film

40 years in solitary confinement. What would you dream of?

SYNOPSIS

Synopsis

What kind of house does a man who has been imprisoned in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years dream of?When art student Jackie Sumell asked this of Herman Wallace, a Black Panther activist whos been in solitary confinement longer than anyone in the history of the American penal system, she was fulfilling a class assignment and showing solidarity to a friend. After eight years and more than 500 letters, much of her lifework has focused on his answer. Their collaboration, an art installation called The House That Herman Built, has been seen in galleries around the world, making Herman one of Americas most famous political prisoners.The project has forced the public to come face to face with an American prison system that currently holds over 2 million people behind bars; 25,000 of them in solitary confinement cells for prolonged periods, a practice that could be considered torture. Louisiana State Prison authorities put Herman in solitary on April 17th 1972, the day prison guard Brent Miller was stabbed to death. Without any physical evidence linking them to the crime, an all white jury eventually convicted Herman and a fellow prison activist of the murder based solely on questionable testimony from other inmates.Now in Hermans 38th year in a cell for 23 hours a day, as his criminal appeals process winds its way through the courts, Herman and Jackie are looking for land. Inspired by Hermans designs for his house, they hope to build a community space for youth in New Orleans, Hermans hometown.The documentary The House That Herman Built captures Herman and Jackies creative journey and close friendship while examining the injustice of solitary confinement.After tracing how, with Jackies help, Herman came to imagine his house, we follow Jackie through meetings with real estate agents, contractors, and potential neighbors. Herman and Jackies infectious optimism, however, repeatedly collides with the harsh realities of Americas judicial system. Though a federal judge called Hermans prolonged solitary sentence cruel and unusual punishment, he remains in his cell.More than a physical structure, The House That Herman Built emerges as a collective site for people to weigh in on a system that holds thousands of prisoners in cages for years. This is the story of Herman and Jackie, of Americas criminal justice system, and the amazing journey of a simple question, backed by big dreams and passionate commitment.

TEAM

Team

Angad Bhalla - Writer/Director/DOPDrawn to film for its ability to have an emotional impact, Bhalla chooses projects that highlight voices we rarely hear. After spending months with Indian villagers who had been resisting an alumina project backed by the Canadian company Alcan, he produced his first independent project U.A.I.L. Go Back. It was used widely as an organizing tool to pressure Alcan over its involvement.He has since worked on videos for groups including Human Rights Watch and the Global March Against Child Labour. His short documentary on the lives of Indian street artists, Writings on the Wall garnered awards at Worldfest Houston and the Columbus Film and Video Festival. It was broadcast nationally on Canadas Bravo! Network, Indias NDTV, and internationally on Al Jazeera English.Bhalla is completing his first feature documentary Hermans House on a collaborative art project between political prisoner Herman Wallace and his artist friend Jackie Sumell. Hermans House received the support of the Ford Foundation and Sundance Institute, and participated in the Sundance Documentary Story and Edit Lab, the Sundance Composers + Documentary Lab, and the IFP Documentary Lab. He is currently in production on a companion interactive documentary Inside Hermans House, which received full funding from the National Film Board of Canada. He also works part-time as a community organizer for immigrant rights.Lisa Valencia-Svensson - ProducerLisa Valencia-Svensson is a Toronto based documentary film producer. She has been working at Storyline Entertainment since 2007.She has a number of documentary projects in progress, including Hermans House, which has received funding from the Ford Foundation and Sundance Institute, the interactive documentary Inside Herman's House now in production with the National Film Board of Canada, and the documentary feature Shadow Girl.She has a background in finance, community media, and research work. She produces films which explore political issues and socially relevant themes, and encourage audiences to view their world through a constructively critical lens.Ricardo Acosta - EditorRicardo Acosta immigrated to Canada from his native Cuba in 1993. Before coming to Toronto, he studied and worked at the world renowned Cuban Film Institute in Havana. He has edited both documentary and dramatic films which have been shown around the world. His outstanding work has contributed to the making of several award-winning and award-nominated films including: Shooting Indians, A Journey With Jeffrey Thomas directed by Ali Kazimi, Unbound directed by Claudia Morgado, Spirits of Havana produced by the NFB, The Take directed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, Runaway Groom directed by Ali Kazimi and Tiger Spirit directed by Min Sook Lee. He has twice been chosen to participate as a fellow in Sundance Institute Labs. He just completed editing the film Herman's House, directed by Angad Bhalla and supported by the Ford Foundation's JustFilms Initiative and the Sundance Institute.Ed Barreveld - Executive ProducerEd Barreveld has been making films since 1986 when he joined the Ontario Studio of Oscar-winning National Film Board of Canada. He has been an independent producer since 1996, focusing on point of view, auteur driven documentaries. Since 2004, Barreveld has been the sole principal of Storyline Entertainment, the company he co-founded in 2000 for the companys inaugural release of the award winning documentary Aftermath: The Remnants of War. Barrevelds films have been broadcast globally, have shown at major international festivals such as Hot Docs, IDFA, Toronto International Film Festival and have garnered many awards, including Gemini Awards for Shipbreakers (2005) and Tiger Spirit (2009). In 2010 Barreveld produced Resilience: Stories of Single Black Mothers (Executive Producer), The Real M*A*S*H and The Market (IDFA 2010). Barreveld is based in Toronto, Canada.Loring McAlpin - Executive ProducerLoring is an artist and media producer based in New York City. A founding member of the AIDS Activist art collective Gran Fury, has created public art projects and individual gallery shows, exhibiting in the United States and Europe. Work with Gran Fury included producing radio and television spots for The American Center in Paris, and Creative Time in New York, as well as with major museums in America and in Europe. Transitioning from the art world into documentary and film, he was the associate producer on Ira Sachs first feature The Delta. Oral history work has included work with the ACT UP Oral History Project (where many years ago he formed ACT UP NYCs Prison Issues subcommittee) as well as radio documentaries with Kate Bland for Just Radio/BBC Radio 2.Ken Myhr - ComposerKen's musical life began listening to his father play jazz stride piano and sing barbershop. After a few lessons he taught himself to play electric guitar and spent his early life making a lot of noise whenever and wherever possible. This lead to performing on concert stages worldwide from The Royal Albert Hall to the David Letterman Show. More recently he has created scores for over 90 films including Love, Hate &Propoganda (CBC), Geologic Journey (The Nature of Things), My Toxic Baby (Storyline), Diamond Road (Kensington), earning a Golden Sheaf Award and multiple Gemini Nominations in the process. For more info go to www.kenmyhr.com.Iris Ng - DOPIris Ng is a graduate of Film and Video Production at York University with a background in still photography, visual art and music. She began her cinematography career by shooting her first independent feature film while studying at York and has since worked on narrative, experimental, and documentary films which have taken her to China, Egypt, Europe, and across North America.Her artistic background has been an asset to her collaborations with established artists as well as award-winning film directors including Min Sook Lee, Giselle Portenier, and Sarah Polley. Her recent credits with Storyline include My Toxic Baby, Resilience: Stories of Single Black Mothers, and The Market.Nicolas Brault - AnimationBorn in Montréal in 1975, Nicolas Brault holds a degree in graphic design from the Université du Québec à Montréal. After making two student films using a graphics tablet (Lœil, 1999, and Vermino, 2000), he won the 2000 edition of the National Film Board of Canadas Cinéaste recherché(e) competition, which enabled him to direct the film Antagonia. Antagonia was screened at the Clermont-Ferrand film festival and at CINAMINA in Portugal, where it picked up an award. Brault then turned his attention to Inuit culture with his short Îlot (2003), as well to African oral traditions, with Hungu (2008). In his most recent film, Le cirque(2010), a Folimage-ONF co-production, Brault touches on memories surrounding the death of his mother. After collaborating on several projects combining animation and live action, he is currently developing a film that unites bodily motion and pixilation.Tom Hillman - Stop Motion AnimationTom Hillman serves as Director of Ghost Fx at Renegade Motion Picture Corporation. Mr. Hillman is a self-taught multifaceted artist. Using his innovative cutting edge design principles, he has given unique style to over 150 productions in the last ten years that he has animated, produced, or directed going to air on television and film. Before Ghost FX, Hillman opened his first company in 1994 and since has won an array of awards from Gold and Silver International BDA's (Broadcast Design Awards), Graphic Design Exchange, and the Best Canadian Station ID spot in 2000. Hillman has directed visual effects for a Disney television special (Tough to be a Bug), two international short films for Bravo, two years of the Canadian Juno Awards, and two feature films (The Covenant and Battle Queen 2020).Amit Bhalla - Production CoordinatorAmit Bhalla joined Storyline in 2011 as an Assistant Editor on Herman's House. He graduated in 2009 from Yale University where he studied film, theatre and sculpture. Before Herman's House, he co-wrote and produced a play, The Privilege of Death, for the Doctorow Center for the Arts.Shasha Nakhai - Production CoordinatorShasha Nakhai joined Storyline in January 2011. Having graduated from Ryerson University's Broadcast Journalism program, she has worked as a researcher and PA on VisionTV's documentary series The Church of Elvis. She has also completed stints with CBC Radio, CKLN fm and Africa Independent Television in Nigeria. Shasha came to Canada as an international student from Nigeria in 2003 and now resides in Toronto.She made her first documentary film Baby Not Mine(2009) about Filipino caregivers in Canada. She recently produced the documentary feature Happy Joe (2010) and co-directed a documentary short called The Sugar Bowl (2011). She aims to produce socially-relevant, high-impact factual entertainment.Daniel Pellerin - Sound DesignDaniel Pellerin is one of Canada's finest recording and re-recording mixer/engineers, sound designers and music supervisors. He has worked with a who's who of Canadian filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan, Clement Virgo, James Cameron, Shelley Saywell, Min Sook Lee, Michael Kot, Ron Mann and Bruce MacDonald. He has been nominated for 10 Genie Awards of which he has won three (Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter, Istvan Szabo's Sunshine and Clement Virgo's Love Come Down). He has been nominated for 16 Gemini Awards, for which he has won two (Musicians in Exile and Under the Piano). He has worked extensively with Storyline Entertainment and he was the supervising mixer for Min Sook Lee's Tiger Spirit and My Toxic Baby.AXYZ - VFXaxyz is a full service post-production house for commercials, television series and films. It is comprised of interconnected divisions: editing, 2D and 3D animation, matte painting and compositing; each department working both independently and in support of one another, broadening the scope for creative solutions to the most challenging of projects. Since 1995, axyz has established itself as one of the most powerful forces in the post-production industry with a prestigious list of clients and an award-winning body of work.Dan Hatch - Architectural RenderingDaniel Hatch is an architect, builder, illustrator, and animator based in Chicago, IL. He received his Master's degree in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati in 2005 and has since been involved in a wide variety of for-profit and non-profit projects that as often as possible are focused on sustainability and social responsibility.

NEWS

News

Director Angad Bhalla's interview on CBC Radio's Definitely Not The Opera (at 43:40)Director Angad Bhalla's article in Documentary Magazine about his experience at the Sundance Documentary + Composers LabsPhilanthropy News Digest interview with Ford Foundation JustFilm Initiative Director Orlando BagwellAnnounced as Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program granteeDirector Angad Bhalla & Editor Ricardo Acosta selected to participate in 2011 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab as well as Composers + Documentary LabAnnounced as participant in 2011 IFP Annual Independent Filmmaker LabsSelected as recipient of Ford Foundation's JustFilms Initiative fundingOfficial Selection for The Hamptons International Film Festival Pitch-In ProgramOfficial Selection for The Silverdocs 2010 Good PitchReal Screen's coverage of Toronto Documentary Forum pitchIndie Wire's coverage of Toronto Documentary Forum pitchIndie Wire's "In The Works" articleWinner of the NFB Digital Development Deal at the 2010 Toronto Documentary ForumWinner of the Cuban Hat Award at the 2010 Toronto Documentary ForumOfficial Selection for the Hot Docs 2010 Toronto Documentary Forum PitchFilmmaking Team Selected To Participate In Tribeca All Access 2010Participant in Independent Film Week 2008Awarded the DocFest Best Pitch Award 2007 from POV

ART PROJECT

The Art Project

View the website of the art project "The House That Herman Built" by Jackie Sumell with Herman Wallace which started it all: www.hermanshouse.orgView On Canadian Art article on Jackie's 2010 artist talk in TorontoThe New York Times 2007 article on Herman's House designWebsite of Architect Scott Gustafon (prepared blueprints of Herman's house design)Herman's library book driveHerman's House Cause on Facebook - help build his dream home!

CONTACT

Contact

Lisa Valencia-SvenssonStoryline Entertainment Inc.115 Palmerston AvenueToronto, OntarioM6J 2J2 CanadaTel: +1-416-603-8333 Fax: +1-416-603-6318Email: lisa_storylineentertainment.comwww.storylineentertainment.com

RESOURCES

Resources

Director Angad Bhalla's websiteAmnesty International Condemns 40 Years' Solitary Confinement for 'Angola 2'The Guardian 2011 article on solitary confinementMother Jones 2010 article on Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3Mother Jones 2009 article on the Angola 3The New Yorker 2009 article on solitary confinement in the USSolitary Watch websiteAngola 3 website