PRESS + REVIEWS

PRESS

Interview with Director Lauren Knapp ahead of the Rosebud Film Festival
Picture Lock Radio  |  July 2018

BAFTA Student Film Awards Shortlist Revealed
Hollywood Reporter  |  May 2017

‘The Sandman’ Film Follows Doctor Who Executed Georgia’s Death Row Inmates
Georgia Public Broadcasting  |  March 2017

Short Circuit
Culture Spot  |  March 2017

Going Out Guide for Montgomery County
Washington Post  |  March 2017

Local Filmmakers at Bethesda Film Fest
Connection Newspapers  |  March 2017

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival – The Sandman
We Are Moving Stories  |  February 2017

Death Row Doctor
New York Times Op-Doc  |  January 2017

A Doctor at the Center of the Capital Punishment Debate
BioEdge  |  January 2017

REVIEWS

Powerful, potent and a clarity that is frightening and touching at the same time.
– DC Shorts

Examining the reasons why a doctor opposed to capital punishment has engaged in dozens of Georgia executions, this film provides unique insight into the challenges of the modern-day death penalty in America.
– Robin Konrad, Legal Expert on Lethal Injection and Assistant Professor of Law

Lauren Knapp’s The Sandman takes its viewers to places of the heart, soul and mind where death row inmates and the medical profession wrestle with profound end of life consequences. Meaningful conversations are bound to be the result of seeing this film and pondering difficult questions about the death penalty in our country today.

– Susan Davis, Thin Line Film Festival

In this haunting documentary, a physician not only provides health care to prisoners but – against the ethical tenets of every major medical professional organization – also assists in executions.
– Jonathan I. Groner MD, Professor of Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Many of the documentaries blurred the lines between observation and staging for visual effect. There were diverse subject matters from an elderly painter of religious icons to a post-apocalyptic landscape where horses live amongst the ruins of man’s civilization. But one documentary stood out for its examination of medical ethics colliding with over-reaching state power. Given unique access to those who wield the power of life and death over one of the biggest prison populations in the US, the jury is unified in awarding best documentary to Lauren Knapp for THE SANDMAN.

– In The Palace International Short Film Festival

A brilliantly executed educational piece that will open your mind to things unimaginable. 
– JellyFEST

THE SANDMAN is a very deep film for twenty minutes and a very interesting perspective into a subject that is so controversial. I definitely recommend this short film! 
– Nightmarish Conjurings

…[A]n emotional head-turner. No matter what side of the coin you find yourself on, you can’t help but feel the stirring affectivity behind Dr. Musso’s struggles with compassion and belief.  
– PopHorror