STARTING POINT

A fascinating documentary that looks at a pilot program in which female prisoners work at a nursing home for the elderly and disabled while serving out their sentences.

Starting Point follows a young woman, Anita, who at the age of 19 was incarcerated for murder. Nine years later, as she waits to see if she will be granted parole, her daily routine takes her outside the prison walls and into an elderly nursing home.

There, she strikes up a friendship with one of the residents, Helena. Helena, has been ill since infancy, and has spent much of her life confined to hospitals, looking out at the world through their windows. She is intrigued by Anita and begins asking her about life, her family, her crime and her hopes for the future.

Starting Point is a poignant and incisive documentary about the criminal justice and health care systems.

Shortlist for Best Documentary Short Subject, 2016 Academy Awards
Official Selection, International Film Festival Amsterdam
Official Selection, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Special Mention, Budapest Documentary Film Festival
Special Mention, Documenta Madrid
Official Selection, Hot Springs Film Festival