HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Educational Media Reviews Online | PRISONER JUSTICE PRIZE - Social Justice Film Festival | RECOMMENDED - Video Librarian
Criminal Justice Studies • Addiction • Sociology • Women's Studies • American StudiesDate of Completion: 2018 | Run Time: 75 minutes | Language: English | Captions: Available on Streaming / Not on DVD | Includes: Transcript and Discussion Guide | Directors & Producers: Hannah Dweck & Yael Luttwak
GUEST HOUSE documents the lives of three previously incarcerated women living in a re-entry home. Through their stories of trauma, relapse and survival, the film exposes the challenges of reintegrating from the prison system while recovering from addiction and battling recidivism. In this pivotal moment of transition, the women draw support from staff and one another to rekindle hope and work towards rehabilitation. By humanizing addiction, the film reframes the life choices that led them into a broken criminal justice system and challenges the social stigma attached to addicts and offenders. In doing so, it makes the case for what is needed to achieve lasting recovery: treatment programs, community support and accountability.
Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) | Gisèle Tanasse, Film and Media Services Librarian, University of California Berkeley
"Guest House is highly recommended for college and general adults and would seem a valuable addition to high school classrooms focused on issues of incarceration and addiction. Above and beyond being a highly informative program, the filmmakers compellingly capture the full human experience of these incredible women, with laughter, heartaches, fears and hopes in a way that leaves me rooting for each individual and marveling at where they might be today."
Video Librarian
Recommended "The film forthrightly captures the struggles, successes, and setbacks of a group of women who seem eager to embrace sobriety and professional treatment."
Spirituality & Practice
"In a time when the United States’ opioid crisis is demanding more media and political attention, Guest House, sensitively directed by Hannah Dweck and Yael Luttwak, is necessary filmmaking [...] Guest House’s gentle but unflinching approach to its subjects’ journeys feels honest and real. [...]
Guest House is not just a personal story. It’s a societal one. It’s a quiet but firm reminder that those who use drugs are members of our human community and that funding, space, and societal solidarity, while scarce now, can make a world of difference for individuals and for us all, if we will only pay attention to how many doors we open for those most in need of some co-creative hope."
Hyperallergic
"A candid portrait of the opioid crisis and the work it takes to survive addiction."
Prisoner Justice Prize | Social Justice Film Festival
Official Selection | Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection | Austin Film Festival
Official Selection | Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival
Official Selection | Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection | High Falls Women's Film Festival
SCREENINGS
Sixth & I Synagogue
Director and Producer of GUEST HOUSE
Hannah Dweck is a Washington DC-based writer, director, and producer, who founded Dweck Productions in 2018. She co-directed the award winning documentary film, GUEST HOUSE, which played at Austin Film Festival and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in 2019.
In addition to writing and directing her own films, Hannah heads Dweck Productions, a production company that fosters emerging, independent talent—fresh writers, directors, and that push the boundaries of imaginative thinking. The company produces original films and also makes financial investments to seed film production so great stories by new filmmakers can come to life.
Most recently, Hannah served as Executive Producer on the acclaimed feature film, WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR, which premiered at Sundance 2021 and is being honored at the prestigious, 50th annual New Directors / New Films in New York City.
Learn more at www.dweckproductions.com