Politics & Government

'Edgar Barens Day' Honors Oscar-Nominated Oswego Graduate

"Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall" premieres March 31 on HBO.

The Village of Montgomery will celebrate "Edgar A. Barens Day" — just in time for the debut of a Montgomery man's Oscar-nominated documentary.

Last week, the village board voted to designate March 31 in honor of Barens, a Montgomery resident and 1979 Oswego High School graduate.

Barens' movie, "Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall," will premiere March 31 on HBO. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary short category.


“Mr. Barens’ success and achievement is an example to all citizens and worthy of recognition and emulation," the village's proclamation reads.

According to the village, Barens' previous works include documentary film, experimental shorts, music videos and public service announcements that have been screened at film festivals and broadcast nationally and internationally. Barens is a graduate of OHS and later received his bachelor’s degree and Master of Fine Arts in Cinema and Photography from Southern Illinois University.

The nearly 40-minute "Prison Terminal" documentary "breaks through the walls of one of Americas oldest maximum security prisons to tell the story of the final months in the life of a terminally ill prisoner, Jack Hall, and the hospice volunteers, they themselves prisoners, who care for him," according to the film's website.

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