In May 1988, girlfriends Claudia Brenner and Rebecca Wight were attacked while hiking the Appalachian Trail by a ‚mountain man‘ named Stephen Roy Carr. IN THE HOLLOW tells the story of the shooting, Wight’s death, and Brenner’s desperate survival (and later transformation into an advocate for hate crime legislation in the U.S.) as she returns to the trail for the first time since the shooting.
The film combines documentary and narrative film elements, using the actual locations on the trail and dramatizations written by Claudia Brenner and director/screenwriter Austin Bunn based on her testimony. The film follows Brenner as she hikes the Appalachian Trail in search of the site of the shooting and path of her survival.
Director/Co-Writer/Editor – Austin Bunn
Producers: Austin Bunn, Robert Hazen, Spencer Gillis, Chris Cocco
Director of Photography: Spencer Gillis
*SHORT OF THE WEEK*
Screenings
Inside Out (Premiere) (Toronto, CA), 2015 (Audience Award – Best Short Documentary)
Honolulu Rainbow LGBT Film Festival (HI), 2015
Out East, Halifax (NS), 2015
Frameline 39, San Francisco (CA), 2015
Provincetown International Film Festival (MA) 2015
Sidewalk/Shout Film Festival, Birmingham (AL), 2015
DocUTAH, St. George, Utah, 2015
Milwaukee International Film Festival (WI), 2015
Atlanta Out On Film Festival (GA), 2015. (Jury Award – Best Short Film)
IRIS Prize Festival, Wales, UK, 2015
(Runner Up – Best Short Film)
ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival, 2015
Top Drawer – Dayton LGBT Film Festival (OH), 2015 (Audience Award – Best Short Film)
Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (CA), 2015
ReelQ Film Festival, Pittsburgh (PA) 2015
MiFo LGBT Film Festival – 7th Annual Fort Lauderdale Edition, 2015 (Audience Award – Best Short Film, Jury Award – Best Short Film Runner Up)
NewFest: The NYC LGBT Film Festival (NY), 2015 (Audience Award – Best Documentary Short)
Queer Film Festival MEZIPATRA, Prague and Brno, Czech Republic, 2015
Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Huntington (NY), 2015
USN|expo 2015 – Sardinia Queer Short Film Festival (Italy) (Jury Prize – Best Documentary Short)
San Francisco Indie Fest (CA), 2016
Mardi Gras Film Festival – Sydney, Australia, 2016
Roze Filmdagen; Amsterdam LGBTQ Film Festival, 2016
Queens World Film Festival (NY), 2016 (Best Short Documentary)
Queer Vision Bristol Pride (Bristol, UK), 2016
London LGBT Film Festival (CA), 2016
Dyke Drama Film Festival (Perth, Australia), 2016
Rio Gender & Sexuality Film Festival, Rio De Janeiro (Brazil) 2016
GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin (Ireland), 2016
North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Durham, NC) (Jury Award: Best Documentary Short Subject)
QUEERSICHT Film Festival (Bern, Switzerland), 2016
Indiana Cares Campaign (PA), 2016