When Bill Babbitt realizes his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision- should he call the police? Last Day of Freedom is a richly animated personal narrative that tells the story of Bill’s decision to stand by his brother, a Veteran returning from war, as he faces criminal charges, racism, and ultimately the death penalty. The film is a portrait of a man at the nexus of the most pressing social issues of our day – veterans’ care, mental health access and criminal justice. Co-produced and directed with Nomi Talisman
Official site: http://www.lastdayoffreedom.net
For educational distribution: http://grasshopperfilm.com/film/last-day-2/
Released: 2015
Running Time: 32mins
Awards:
Nominee, Best Short Documentary Subject, The 88th Academy Awards 2016
http://oscar.go.com/nominees/documentary-short/last-day-of-freedom
45th Annual Northern California Area Emmy® Award: News and Program Specialty -Documentary-Topical
http://emmysf.tv/awards-2/
International Documentary Association (IDA) -Best Short
http://www.documentary.org/awards2015
Finalist, Documentary Short, 59th Cine Eagle Award
https://cine.org/awards/
2015 Platinum Award Winner of the Spotlight Documentary Film Awards
http://www.spotlightdocawards.com/awards.html
Gideon Award, California Public Defenders Association
http://www.claraweb.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016_CPDA_Annual_Awards_Press_Advisory.pdf
Nominee, The 2016 Veterans Braintrust Award, Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust
Award of Recognition, Hollywood International Independent Doc Awards
http://www.hiida.com/jan-2016-winners.html
Festivals:
- Jury Award, Best Short Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Durham NC
http://www.fullframefest.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2015-Full-Frame-Awards-Press-Release-FINAL-4.12.2015.pdf - Film Maker Award, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Durham NC
http://documentarystudies.duke.edu/awards/cds-filmmaker-award/2015-prizewinner - Audience Award, Best Short – SF DocFest, San Francisco, CA
- Jury Award, Best Short Documentary Hamptons International Film Festival, NY
- Golden Strands Award, Outstanding Documentary Short Film, Tall Grass Int. Film Festival, Wichita KS
- Animated Short Doc Award, Bar Harbor, ME
- Impact Award (In)Justice for All International Film Festival, Chicago IL
- Best Experimental Short, Atlanta Docufest, GA
- Best Short Documentary, DC Indie Film festival
- Honorary Mention, Best Animated Documentary Short Film, Dok Leipzig, DE
- Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short, Irvine international Film Festival
Director/Producer/Animation Design: Dee Hibbert-Jones & Nomi Talisman
Last Day of Freedom is the first film in Living Condition a multi-platform documentary trilogy and online project examining the crisis in the U.S. criminal justice system through the lens of families living with a relative on death row
Selected Press:
- Oscar Shortlisted Doc Short ‘Last Day of Freedom’ is a Gentle Animated Look at Complex Issues
Sydney Levine – Sydney’s’ Buzz|| IndieWIRE
December 31, 2015 - Animated short ‘Last Day of Freedom’ in contention for Academy Award,
Matthew Carey nonfictionfilms.com, December 13, 2015 - Watch: ‘Last Day of Freedom’ Is a Searing Study of Our Most Pressing Social Issues
Matt Brennan | Thompson on Hollywood! IndieWIRE, December 8, 2015 - Documentary Awards: ‘The Look Of Silence’ ‘Last Day Of Freedom’, ‘Listen To Me Marlon’ Win IDA Nods By Kinsey Lowe, Deadline.com, December 5, 2015
- A bold decision to animate
Michael Ordoña, San Francisco Chronicle, (PDF Version), December 2, 2015 - Race, Representation, and Rotoscoping: An interview
Emma Miller for Full Frame and The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University - Battle Scars: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Information Center, November 2015
See also Last Day of Freedom Drawings