Purgatory House

Purgatory House
Release poster
Directed by Cindy Baer
Produced by Cindy Baer
Written by Celeste Davis
Starring Celeste Davis
Jim Hanks
Johnny Pacar
Devin Witt
Music by John Swihart
Cinematography Christopher Nibley
Edited by K.J. Gruca
Distributed by Image Entertainment
Release date
  • April 17, 2004 (2004-04-17) (American Independent
    Film Festival, France)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Purgatory House is an Independent film written by 14-year-old Celeste Davis and directed by Cindy Baer, who were paired in the Big Sisters of America program when Davis was 11 years old.[1][2] It deals with the topics of teen suicide and drug addiction from a teen's perspective. Shot in Los Angeles in the summer of 2001, this movie marked the beginning of the Democratization of Film. A critical darling, it screened at 25 festivals, won 12 festival awards, 2 PRISM Award Nominations, appeared on 5 critics lists for "Best Films of the Year" and was then distributed by Image Entertainment.[3]

Plot

Purgatory House follows the after-life journey of Silver Strand (Celeste Maria Davis), a lonely teenage girl who abandoned her life of addiction with boyfriend Sam (Johnny Pacar) only to find herself caught somewhere between Heaven and Hell. Here Silver will decide if she'll accept her drab existence, or finally discover the power within herself to change. Her guides along the path to self-enlightenment include a wry Saint (Jim Hanks), a motley group of fellow teen souls condemned also to the Purgatory House, and God herself (also Jim Hanks). Written by and starring 14-year-old Davis, this semi-autobiographical fantasy is a snapshot of how it feels to be as a teenager in today's society. A wake up call, Purgatory Houses are here on earth. Can we help our kids find the way out?

Cast [4]

  • Celeste Davis as Silver Strand
  • Jim Hanks as Saint James
  • Devin Witt as Atticis
  • Johnny Pacar as Sam
  • Rhiannon Main as Celeste
  • Howard Lockie as Silver's Dad
  • Kathryn Skatula as Sam's Mom
  • Cindy Baer as Marsha
  • Brian Dietzen as Ghost
  • Scott Clark as Johnny

Back story

Director Cindy Baer and teen writer Celeste Davis met when they were paired in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, when Davis was 11 years old. By the age of 13 Davis had lost interest in school, and felt disconnected from most of the relationships in her life. Longing to connect with something, she began to write Purgatory House: a heartfelt screenplay portraying her real life challenges to fit in, cope with peer pressure, deal with the teen drug culture surrounding her, and find meaning for her existence. When Davis turned 14 and landed herself in a teen shelter, Baer decided to give her a positive focus by producing Purgatory House as a movie that Davis would star in.[5] In 2001, Davis became the youngest sole-credited screenwriter to have a feature film produced.[6]

Awards [7]

  • Won- Plymouth Independent Film Festival - Best Film (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- Los Angeles Silverlake Film Festival - Best First Feature (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- Los Angeles Silverlake Film Festival - Best Actress (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- San Diego Film Festival - Best Screenplay (Celeste Davis)
  • Won- Blue November - Best Production (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- Houston International Film Festival - Platinum Award for Feature Film (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- North Texas Film Festival - Spirit of Independent Filmmaking (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- North Texas Film Festival - Best Director (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- North Texas Film Festival - Best Actress (Celeste Davis)
  • Won- Dances With Films - Audience Award (Cindy Baer)
  • Won- Agen Independent Film Festival (France) - Audience Award (Cindy Baer)
  • Nominated - PRISM Awards - Best Feature in a Film Festival (Cindy Baer)
  • Nominated - PRISM Awards - Best Feature on DVD (Cindy Baer)

Music

Movie Soundtrack includes the songs:

References

  1. ↑ "Purgatory House Website".
  2. ↑ "DVDTalk Review". Juliet Farmer.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "IMDB".
  5. ↑ "Purgatory House Website".
  6. ↑ "Script Magazine January/February 2002 edition" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "IMDB".
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