Paul Hunter

At the end of a 6 month shoot inside Albany County Jail in upstate New York, director Lee Phillips took a well-deserved vacation. Like with many projects, he had to strip back countless hours to produce the final documentary – a process that involved the loss of a lot of stories, people, and footage. Misfortune led to opportunity when a holiday accident left Lee in a sling – unable to film his next project, but able instead to back go into the editing suite and find those lost stories that had stayed with him the most.

The result was Upstate Purgatory. On the face of it, this is a ‘traditional’ feeling documentary, but due to the motivation for Phillips to make it, there is a real heart to it that stays with you. As the title tells us, Phillips frames the jail as a form of purgatory – where those inside await judgement and the next steps. While they wait, they reflect on what led them here, what keeps them here, and what life holds for them when they finally get back outside. A killer for a Mexican gang who spread death beyond his targets; a heroin addict molested as a child; an alcoholic trying to escape his demons for the sake of his son; a man who followed his father’s footsteps into a life of crime; it is easy to see what about these four characters stuck with Phillips – because they are very real and honest about who they are.

The film uses this frankness in a way that avoids judgement and stays away from the politics of their situations. If you default to “lock ‘em up and throw away the key”, the film enables you to connect to them as people and see the complexity of where they are. Conversely if you are more of a bleeding heart liberal (like me), the film is not shy about confronting you with the terrible nature of some of their crimes. It is this balance that stops a bias forming in the delivery, makes it accessible, and keeps it about the individuals – not the viewer’s politics.

Just like they did with Phillips, these stories will stick with you. They will give food for thought about the nature of crime and the criminal justice system, but first and foremost you will think about the people – which is why it worked so well for us at Short of the Week.