Sobering Documentary At the Death House Door to Premiere in Chicago from Hoop Dreams Filmmakers

CHICAGO - The Texas "killer burger" is literally sold right across the street from a state-mandated death house that brings convicted felons to their legal demise.

While the death penalty is believed by many to serve a sort of justice to the guilty the majority of the time, what happens when the wrongly accused fall prey, too? Moreover, is it ultimately right to even treat the guilty with such eye-for-an-eye repercussion?

The United States has wavered back and forth in its stance on the death penalty. Advocates for and opponents against it are large and fervent on both sides of the fence. Some 18 years later, Chicago Tribune reporters Steve Mills and Maury Possley in 2005 began investigating inconsistent evidence in the case of Carlos De Luna. He was executed in 1989.

De Luna's investigation has prompted pastor Carroll Pickett to speak up. For 15 years, Picked served as the death house chaplain at the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Hunstville, Texas. As Pickett presided over 95 executions - including the world's first lethal injection - he was each person's sanctuary in their final moments.

The story of Pickett, De Luna and countless others is being told now in the "quiet powerhouse" documentary "At the Death House Door". The film's message is now heating up the country's burners after its world premiere on March 9, 2008 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival.

"At the Death House Door" filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert already have potent storytelling power with audiences after the landmark 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams" (in which James directed and Gilbert produced). Gilbert is a Chicago native.

They're bringing "At the Death House Door" to Chicago for a one-week engagement at the Gene Siskel Film Center starting on May 10, 2008 at 8 p.m.