Canadian Screen Award, Best Feature Length Documentary
"I had a hard name in that place." — Michael
That's how Michael, one of eight ex-convicts featured in Alan Zweig's film, describes his old reputation — though he means more than just being known as tough. He's talking about a hardness of spirit, the kind that might have kept him alive as a criminal or a prisoner, but gets in the way out in the world. Shedding it, though, is easier said than done.
A Hard Name follows eight middle-aged ex-convicts, chosen at random, trying to stay out of prison — for some, for the first time in their lives. Most have spent thirty to forty years in and out of jail; prison is what they know, and where they learned to survive. Life on the outside is a different story entirely.
As each tries to adapt, they share their stories, reflect on their pasts, and trace the path that led them to prison in the first place.
