In Eden Wurmfeld’s Classroom 4, she spotlights a class made up of half incarcerated and half free students being taught together about The History of Crime and Punishment in the United States, breaking down barriers and forging relationships in an open and accepting space for people whose lives have taken very different trajectories.
Awards Buzz spoke with Wurmfeld about any concerns those participating in the film might have had about being involved:
“I think that there was some trepidation at the outset. What if this footage is shown to somebody and we get in trouble, or it’s used against us in some way? There was some question about that initially, and I think that as we got to know one another and trust was built, those concerns fell away, according to the students, because we had talked about all of it quite a bit. You still have to go through all that, lists of every single piece of equipment, and they inspect everything, and so on. But once we were in, it was pretty smooth sailing.”
She also shared what surprised her most about the experience:
“I think that what really amazed me was how nervous everyone was on the first day, including me. I’d never been inside a prison before. I didn’t know what to expect. I think that was true for many of the outside students. And the inside students, as you hear in the movie, are all nervous too for completely different reasons. And just to experience how those nerves fell away and how they came to be replaced by this deep trust and vulnerability and friendship over the course of fifteen weeks blew my mind. I mean, it really did. It was just really such an honor to bear witness to this experience, and I really hope that viewers get to have that experience too.”
Classroom 4 is on the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Short and is available to stream on PBS POV Shorts.
