The Filmmaker
From filmmaker Macky Alston:
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I hope that HARD ROAD HOME will melt the hard hearts of all viewers who define people who have committed crimes and been in prison by the worst acts they have committed. I hope that viewers will recognize themselves in the lives of the people at Exodus as well as recognize the exceptional heroism of the formerly incarcerated people of Exodus who are committing themselves 24/7 to the salvation of a population at radical risk. I hope that people, following the broadcast, will go to hardroadhome.org and identify ways that they can join the movement to help formerly incarcerated people lead lives of meaning and security—lives maximized for the positive benefit they can have to society, rather than reduced to the damage they have done to it.
And I hope that America, which has the largest per capita prison population in the world, is made better aware of that population. There are hidden peoples in America—the poor, the elderly, the mentally ill. It is critical that we remember that the people we lock away are humans like us and that the result of the institutionalization for which we pay has permanent impact on their souls and our society. We must take responsibility for our systems and for the lives shaped by them once they have done their time.
His three favorite films:
Today, they are:
Chronicle of a Summer (dir. Jean Rouch)
Shoot the Piano Player (dir. Francois Truffaut)
The Piano (dir. Jane Campion)
His advice for aspiring filmmakers:
All you need to make a good film, I believe, is stamina, a good idea and the humility to seek the expertise you do not have and to get second opinions regarding the expertise you think you do have. At the same time, you need to have the courage of your convictions and to trust your eye and voice.
I hope I will never be among the corps of people who discourage budding filmmakers to go for it. It is bitterly hard, but it has been my experience that just when I have been ready to throw in the towel, something happens in the process—a sudden windfall, an unimaginable revelation—that returns me to the path. Ask for help from any and all people. Aspire to tell the truth and to make art. There need not be a divide between journalism and art. Why not tell a story as ambitiously as you possibly can? Often a film’s failure is built into the unnecessarily limited ambitions or confidence with which the filmmaker sets out.
His most inspirational food for making independent film:
Chocolate. Coffee. Wine. Raspberries. Whatever gives you the lift you need to laugh through the moments you think it just might not work out.
Bio
Macky Alston
Director
Macky Alston’s award-winning documentary films include The Killer Within, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006 and aired on the Discovery Channel in 2007; Questioning Faith, which premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival and the Hot Docs International Film Festival and aired on HBO/Cinemax in 2002; and Family Name, which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and aired on P.O.V. in 1998.
Alston’s awards include the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award and the Gotham Open Palm Award. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show as well as in The New York Times. Alston is director of Auburn Media, a division of the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary, which is dedicated to informed, engaging coverage of religion in the media.
