New award for UIC filmmaker’s prison hospice documentary

The Oscar-nominated documentary by UIC filmmaker Edgar Barens, “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall,” received the 2014 Audience Choice Award from the Council on Social Work Education.

“I am proud to be a representative of the Jane Addams College of Social Work and help fulfill its mission through the documentary films we are producing,” said Barens, visiting media specialist in the college’s Center for Social Policy and Research.

The film documents the care by fellow prisoners for World War II veteran Jack Hall, a terminally ill prisoner in the Iowa State Penitentiary.

“I think it is a testament to the compassion a prisoner-run hospice can bring to one of society’s darkest corners as well as to the importance of the issue as our correctional system swells with a growing number of elderly and chronically ill prisoners,” Barens said.

“Prison Terminal,” which also received a CINE Golden Eagle Award, was one of 12 films selected for the national organization’s film festival at its annual meeting Oct. 24-26.

The documentary, nominated for a 2014 Academy Award as Best Documentary Short Subject, aired on HBO and is now available to HBO and ComCast Xfinity subscribers.