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Description
"A wonderful, powerful film. A rare inspiration to all of us." Richard Gere
Inspiration for the holidays! A film that “gives you hope for the human race." This gift pack of 5 + a free poster is available at a new price.
East meets West in the Deep South. An overcrowded maximum-security prison—the end of the line in Alabama’s correctional system—is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program.
Behind high security towers and a double row of barbed wire and electrical fence dwells a host of convicts locked away from the outside world for life. But for some of these men, a spark is ignited when it becomes the first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days.
THE DHAMMA BROTHERS tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into this arduous and intensive program. This film, with the power to dismantle stereotypes about men behind prison bars also, in the words of Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), “gives you hope for the human race."
DVDs for home use only.See www.bullfrogfilms.com for educational use, community screenings and library copies. A Collector's Edition DVD will be released in the Spring of 2010.
Cast
The inmates: Grady Bankhead, Edward C. Johnson, Benjamin “OB” Oryang, Rick Smith
The Teachers: Bruce Stewart, Jonathan Crowley
Alabama Dept. of Corrections: Dr. Ron Cavanaugh - Director of Treatment
Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama: Bryan Stevenson - Director
Donaldson Correctional Facility: Stephen Bullard - Former Warden, Lieutenant Glenn Martin, Sergeant Joel Gilbert, Denise Brickie - Drug Treatment Counselor
Festivals
San Francisco Frozen Film Festival - Best Documentary
National Council on Crime and Delinquency - Pass Award
Woods Hole International Film Festival - Winner: Best Documentary
Rhode Island International Film Festival - Runner-Up, Best Documentary
United Nations Assoc. Film Festival
SPIRIT Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
International Buddhist Film Festival: London
Northampton International Film Festival
Martha's Vineyard Film Festival
Green Mountain Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
Maui Film Festival
Fall, 2008
Sidewalk Film Festival, Birmingham, AL
Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, Newburyport, MA
Bahamas Film Festival
International Buddhist Film Festival: Mexico
Production Credits & Notes
Directed by Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, Anne Marie Stein
Written by Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, Anne Marie Stein
Produced by Jenny Phillips, Anne Marie Stein
Edited by Andrew Kukura
Co-Produced by Peter Broderick
Principal Cinematography Jeremy Leach, Wah Ho Chan
Executive Producers Geralyn Dreyfous, Nicole Guillemet and Jenny Phillips, Anne Marie Stein, Bestor Cram
In Association With Northern Light Productions
and The Lionheart Foundation
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