''A Hard Name'' is a 2009

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 ...

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 A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary ...

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 Clifford Robert Olson Jr. (January 1, 1940 – September 30, 2011) was a convicted Canadian serial killer who confessed to murdering 11 children and teenagers between the ages of 9 and 18 in the early 1980s. Murders Christine Weller, 12, from ...

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 ...

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ameri ...

. ''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 Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. The film received the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sc ...

for Best Feature Length Documentary at the

30th Genie Awards The 30th Genie Awards were presented on April 12, 2010 to honour films released in 2009.Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ont ...

References

External links

*
''A Hard Name''
at Primitive Entertainment * Watc
''A Hard Name''
at

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 E ...

Doc Studio website 2009 films 2009 documentary films Canadian documentary films Films directed by Alan Zweig Best Documentary Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Documentary films about child abuse Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Canada Canadian prison films Documentary films about the penal system in Canada Documentary films about crime in Canada Crime in British Columbia Crime in New Brunswick 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films {{bio-documentary-film-stub