Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care in Corvallis plans to host a screening of the documentary, “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall,” followed by a panel discussion of people working to change the way people die in prisons across the United States.
The screening and panel discussion will take place virtually from 5-6:30 p.m. on Oct. 12. Registration to attend the virtual screening and panel discussion is required and available at this link.
The documentary is being offered in partnership with the Humane Prison Hospice Project, which is based out of San Quentin, California.
Joining the panel will be documentary filmmaker Edgar Barens, who is responsible for the 2014 documentary Prison Terminal. The film draws from footage shot over a six-month period behind the walls of the Iowa State Penitentiary and provides an account of how the hospice experience can profoundly touch even the forsaken lives of the incarcerated.
“I took on the mission to document one of the few positive programs that exists today behind bars in hopes that other facilities will emulate the prisoner-run hospice program and lessen the impact and instill much needed dignity to dying in prison for all concerned,” Barens said.
Also on the panel is program director and co-founder of the Humane Prison Hospice Project, Ladybird Morgan, and formerly incarcerated prison reform activist, Marvin Mutch, who is also a co-founder of the Humane Prison Hospice Project.
Lumina invites the community to attend the virtual screening and panel discussion. Lumina Volunteer Coordinator, Naomi Hirsch, attended a screening of the film in early 2022.
“Daily in my work I see the enormous value of being a hospice volunteer and the impact volunteers have on patients and families,” Hirsch said. “Prison Terminal brought tears to my eyes as I saw true compassion and love, valuing the dignity of every life, and the impact that has on families and communities.”