ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
GUEST HOUSE is a feature documentary that follows the stories of three women in a re-entry house as they attempt to acclimate to life after being released from incarceration and battle addiction.

SYNOPSIS
GUEST HOUSE is a documentary feature that captures a six month period of life of three women previously incarcerated for non-violent crimes. The film takes us through the reality of reintegration from the prison system and dissolves some of the “otherness” that makes us feel more comfortable with our justice system.

The feature attempts to objectively illuminate just how unjust “justice” can be, and just how not “other” many of these women are. We get to know the real hopes, dreams, desires, and disappointments of our protagonists, and gain insight into their choices. The house is full of diverse personalities driven by survival instincts, and characters who use their humor and intelligence to deal with a broken justice system—a system that contributes to the recidivism of its criminals.

By capturing the crucial first six months of recovery after incarceration, the film shows the reality of re-entry into the community. While there are countless films made about prisons and dramatized, animalistic criminals, there is very little that depicts the experience of most people who are incarcerated and the reality of what happens after their release. The intimate access of the movie and the trust brokered with these women allows the viewer to see the complexities of the daily ups and downs during this time, a period of life virtually unseen.

During a time when these women are figuring out who they can trust, and if they can even trust themselves, the film manages to penetrate this boundary and hope to turn it into something impactful from which social change can emerge.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Hannah Dweck, Yael Luttwak
PRODUCER Hannah Dweck, Yael Luttwak
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Sonnie Dockser, Daryl Freimark
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Theodore Schaefer, Mara Olguin
IMPACT PRODUCER Wendy Cohen

WEBSITE guesthousedoc.com