FILM

FrenetiCore  is hosting a series of monthly film nights--free of charge and open to the public, showcasing Houston's most talented filmmakers.  Sunday May 17th, 7pm,   Secret People The Naked Face of Leprosy in America.  Directed by John Anderson and Houston filmmaker Laura Harrison. Cost: FREE. Frenetic Theater, 5102 Navigation Blvd.

From the early 1900's to the late 1950's, United States citizens with leprosy were forcibly transported, often in chains and in sealed box cars, to Carville, America's last leprosarium.  Abandoned by family and friends, stripped of their constitutional rights to vote, to get married and bear children, even to use the telephone, many of Carville's "residents" nonetheless accomplished the remarkable act of transforming their prison into a home.

Secret People tells a damning story of outrageous discrimination and stigma in our public health system, interwoven with a haunting and bittersweet chronicle of human courage and perseverance.

About Laura Harrison:

Laura Harrison's award winning documentary Secret People (2000) - a chronicle of the past and present of leprosy in America - was broadcast nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens series and won a silver medal for Best Feature Documentary at the SXSW Film Festival. Thurmond, W. Va (1995) - a portrait of a "ghost town in the making"- received a Jury Award at the NY Expo of Short Film and Video, among many others. Most recently, Laura co-executive-produced Voting in America, a compilation of nine short films about why Americans don’t vote that was broadcast on PBS.

Laura worked for eight years in France as an editor on French feature films before returning to the US to complete an MA in documentary filmmaking from Stanford University. Since 1997, Laura has taught video production in the Houston public school system, history of documentary film at the University of Saint Thomas, curated programs for the Aurora Picture Show and made several short documentary and experimental films.