Jonathan Stack

Bio

Jonathan Stack is a multiple Emmy Award winning and two-time Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker and has written, produced and directed over 25 films and 50 television programs including The Farm, which was honored as Sundance’s 1998 Grand Jury Prize winner. He has earned a reputation for gaining access into forbidden, hidden and dangerous worlds in his work including Liberia: An Uncivil War and Inside the Church of Scientology. He consistently explores difficult subject matter that often exists under intractably dark circumstances and despair, transforming it into stories of hope and possibility that reflect his ultimate belief – by telling positive stories one helps to create a more positive world. Once embedded in these worlds, Stack returns repeatedly, having made more than 10 films and television shows in Angola Prison, five films in Liberia and supervised and produced dozens of shorts in Haiti.

Reflection

There’s a long winding road that ends at the gates of one of America’s oldest and most storied prisons. A slave plantation from the 1700s, and a prison since 1901, today it is home to 6,300 inmates. I came here the first time in 1996 to make a film about a man on death row. I have returned consistently for nearly 20 years, compelled to tell the stories of these men, most of whom are serving sentences so long they will die here.

This time, filming for Sacred, they are are sharing stories about their own relationship with God and how through deep faith, they find freedom and purpose despite the barbed wire. None want to die here, but the men we follow are committed to bringing meaning into their lives. They say a life sentence is not that long compared to an eternity. There is wisdom to be found in a world where men have little material goods, where financial status is nonexistent and time ticks slowly. We reflect, share and dream about better days, but enjoy the ones we have together.