ABOUT At the Death House Door

At the Death House Door is a personal intimate look at the death penalty in the state of Texas through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. During Pickett's remarkable career journey, he presided over 95 executions, including the world's first lethal injection. After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of his trip to the death chamber.

The film also focuses on the story of Carlos De Luna, a convict Pickett counseled and whose execution troubled Pickett more than any other. He firmly believed De Luna was innocent, and the film tracks the investigative efforts of a team of Chicago Tribune reporters who have turned up evidence that strongly suggests he was.

From award-winning directors Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and Peter Gilbert ("Vietnam: Long Time Coming").

Winner, Inspiration Award at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature at Atlanta Film Festival

Attention non-profit organizations: Interested in hosting a screening and discussion of the film? Click here for our online Screening Toolkit.

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:

Entertainment Weekly
"A-"

New York Sun
"moving"

"riveting character study"

"impressive and at times deeply poignant"

Ain't It Cool News
"a vitally important film"

Chicago Sun Times
"3 1/2 stars"

Hollywood Reporter
"will electrify audiences on the activist and festival circuits"

Dallas Morning News
"the Rev. Carroll Pickett makes for a subject you won't soon forget"

"a quiet powerhouse"

Salon
"an audience gratifier"

"a six-Kleenex biopic"

Film Threat
"provides a rare insight from inside the death chamber; one the viewer is not soon likely to forget"

Cinematical
"poignant, heart-rending story...Carroll Pickett's compassion and sympathy, so expertly captured by James and Gilbert, should be a humbling lesson for us all."

Chicago Tribune
"an impassioned portrait of a quest for truth."

A Special Hearing on Capital Punishment: Perspectives at the Death House Door

On March 5th, 2008, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, a team of legal experts, elected officials and religious leaders met to discuss current issues surrounding the death penalty, including: lethal injection, criminal justice, wrongful conviction, and the role of religion/values in executions.

Each discussion was introduced by a clip of IFC's new documentary "At the Death House Door", which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. The film tells the story of Carroll Pickett, the Chaplain for the Texas Department of Corrections from 1982-1995 who counseled 95 inmates executed by lethal injection. The hearing was presented by the Independent Film Channel and the Capital Punishment Center at the University of Texas School of Law.

The panelists included: Rodney Ellis - Texas State Senator; Craig Watkins - Dallas County District Attorney; Carroll Pickett - Texas Death Row chaplain, featured in "At The Death House Door"; Steve James & Peter Gilbert - Award winning filmmakers, Kartemquin Films; Maurice Possley & Steve Mills - Award winning Chicago Tribune journalists; Ginger Anders - Co-counsel in Supreme Court case addressing the legality of lethal injection; David Oshinsky - Pulitzer-Prize winning author and UT Professor; Rob Owen - Clinical Professor, UT School of Law; and Paula Kurland - The Constitution Project /Death Penalty Initiative.

Watch clips from the film that were shown in the hearing >>