The ACLU of Maine will proudly support two films at this weekend’s Camden International Film Festival. The first, called Herman’s House, explores the friendship between an artist and a man named Herman Wallace, who has spent twenty-three hours a day for the past forty years alone in a 6’X9’ prison cell. They collaborate on an acclaimed project driven by the question, “What kind of house does a person in solitary confinement dream about?” For Herman, solitary confinement leaves him with plenty of time to dream about a house, but little will to do so. This film provides a worthwhile window into the world of solitary confinement, something the ACLU of Maine worked to successfully reduce by more than fifty percent since 2010.
Herman’s House shows tonight at 7:00p.m. at the Strand Theater in Rockland and will be followed by discussion with the filmmakers and our Executive Director, Shenna Bellows.
The ACLU will sponsor a film tomorrow at 2:00p.m. called Code of the West. The film documents political battles over medical marijuana in Montana. Though thought to be a pioneer in revising drug policy, they are on the cusp of repeal and the film details consequences to patients and communities when lawmakers criminalize medicine. The film shows at Bayview Street Cinema and will be followed by discussion with the filmmakers and our Public Policy Counsel, Alysia Melnick. Click here for more information.