documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
by
Alan Zweig
Alan Zweig is a Canadian documentary filmmaker known for often using film to explore his own life.
Early life
Alan Zweig was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and has worked in the film industry as a writer, producer, director, driver, and a ...
that explores the lives of
ex-convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
s.
In the film, Zweig interviews seven ex-convicts about their times in prison and their lives on the outside. The men talk about insights they have gained about their lives, including how
childhood abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
led to a life of crime. Film subjects include one man who stabbed fellow inmate Clifford Olson 21 times, before Olson committed his serial killings.
Another of the film's subjects was abused as a child while a resident at the
Mount Cashel Orphanage
The Mount Cashel Orphanage, known locally as the Mount Cashel Boys' Home, was a boys' orphanage located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The orphanage was operated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and became infamous for ...
in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. ''A Hard Name'' ends with archival television footage of him performing, playing the guitar and singing for other young residents of the home.
Zweig admitted to be intimidated about doing these interviews:
However, the ex-convicts interviewed were surprisingly open to Zweig and allowed themselves to be shown as vulnerable.
Release
''A Hard Name'' premiered May 3, 2009 at the
Royal Cinema
The Royal Cinema is an Art Moderne event venue and cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1939 and owned by Miss Ray Levinsky.
When it was built in 1939, it was called The Pylon, with an accompanying large sign at the front of the th ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...