HUNTSVILLE STATION

Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone | USA 2020 | 14 Min. | OmeU

ONLINE ON MONDAY 10TH & TUESDAY 11TH | PART OF THE SHORT FILM PROGRAMME IN BETWEEN
AVAILABLE IN AUSTRIA ONLY
Austrian Premiere

Every weekday, dozens of inmates are released on parole from Huntsville State Penitentiary and enjoy their first moments of freedom at the Greyhound bus stop around the corner – talking on the phone, smoking cigarettes, or simply lost in thought.

In poignant scenes, HUNTSVILLE STATION explores incarceration and regained freedom. Without any commentary, the film tenderly observes the moments before the bus arrives to take them home. Who they are, what they did, and what made them do it does not matter here. By observing the first steps outside the prison cells, the film simply captures the meaning of that very moment.

Directors: Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone
Cinematography: Chris Filippone
Editing: Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone
Sound Design: Dan Olmsted

Website

Awards
Seminci: Valladolid International Film Festival, 2020 / Special Mention: Time of History Competition; Camden International Film Festival, 2020; Double Exposure Film Festival, 2020; SFFILM Doc Stories, 2020; Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporaneo, 2020 / Special Jury Mention: International Short Film Competition; Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, 2020; Calgary International Film Festival, 2020; Chicago International Film Festival, 2020; New Orleans Film Festival, 2020; Palm Springs International Shortfest, 2020 / Special Mention: Best Documentary Short; IFF Message to Man Film Festival, 2020; Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, 2020.

Screenings
Cinema Eye Honors / Outstanding Nonfiction Short Nominee, 2020; IDA Documentary Awards / Best Short Nominee, 2020; Berlinale, 2020; SXSW, 2020; Hot Docs, 2020; AFI Docs, 2020; Docaviv, 2020 / Best Short Award DOC NYC, 2020; DOXA, 2020 / Honorable Mention: Short Documentary.

Biographies
Jamie Meltzer graduated from the San Francisco State University’s cinema programme with a master’s in 2002. He teaches and is the programme director of the MFA programme in documentary film at Stanford University.

Chris Filippone studied film and media arts as well as political science at Temple University and documentary film and video at Stanford. His films explore the intersection between work, marginalised voices and contested spaces. How to Breathe in Kern County screened in the 2019 Berlinale Shorts.