''At the Death House Door'' is a 2008

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about Carroll Pickett, who served as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was produced and directed by the team of Steve James and Peter Gilbert, co-produced by Zak Piper and Aaron Wickenden. James and Gilbert had previously worked together on the well-received Kartemquin Films documentary '' Hoop Dreams'', on which James was the producer and director and Gilbert served as producer and director of photography. The film was produced by Kartemquin Films in association with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', which provided partial funding.

Synopsis

Pickett presided over 95 executions in his 15-year career, including the very first by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

. He kept his feelings about his work from his family, instead audiotaping an account of each one. Initially pro-execution, he became an anti-death penalty activist. Pickett was most affected by the execution of Carlos DeLuna in 1989. He firmly believed in DeLuna's innocence. In 2006, ''

'' reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills published a detailed investigation suggesting that another man, Carlos Hernández, had committed the crime for which DeLuna was executed,'I didn't do it. But I know who did.'
and the film recounts the evidence brought forth in that investigation.

References

External links

* official website *
Movie Trailer
IFC.com
Film Review
Hollywood Reporter
Well Executed? A Haunting New Documentary Examines the Real-World Implications of Capital Punishment
Failure Magazine 2008 films Documentary films about capital punishment in the United States Films directed by Steve James Kartemquin Films films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films {{bio-documentary-film-stub