Sister Helen
By: produced and directed by Rebecca Cammisa & Rob Fruchtman ; R & R Films, Inc
Contributors: Antonetti, Carlos, interviewee; Armstrong, Major, interviewee; Oppenheim, Jonathan, film editor; Weber, Juliet, film editor; Gentry, Simon, composer; Travis, Helen, Sister, 1930-2000; R & R Films, Inc; New Video Group
Publisher: Docurama; Distributed by New Video
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Format: [videorecording] /
Number of pages: 88
ISBN-13: 9780767066600
Subjects: Halfway houses; Recovering addicts; DVD videodisc; Benedictine nuns
Description: " ... [T]his emotionally compelling film is an inspirational and uplifting portrait of a truly colorful and most unusual New York character. Brash, foul-mouthed and no-nonsense, Sister Helen Travis is not your usual saintly soul. A recovering alcoholic who lost her husband and sons to substance abuse, she single-handedly fights her own war on drugs as director of a halfway house for recovering addicts in NYC's South Bronx. Filmmakers Rob Fruchtman and Rebecca Cammisa vividly capture the complex love/hate relationsip between this tough-as-nails nun and the men who both fear her and rely on her to help them battle their own inner demons ... Sister Helen runs a tight ship in which everyone must obey her rules and the hand that writes them"--Container.
Notes: Originally broadcast on HBO in 2001.

Special features: filmmaker commentary by Rob Fruchtman & Rebecca Cammisa; additional scenes; additional interviews; Sundance Awards live; resources; filmmaker biographies.

Editors, Jonathan Oppenheim, Juliet Weber ; original music, Simon Gentry ; directors of photography, Rebecca Cammisa & Rob Fruchtman.

Featuring: Helen Travis, Lee Lessner, Carlos Antonetti, Major Armstrong, Orlando Barrera, Richie Cruz, Gerry Cusack, Carilito Fuentes, Fernando Gonzales, Robert Harvie, Richie Hubschmitt, Gus Johns, Ashley LeStyne, Larry Lingard, Artie Martinez, Raymond McCleary, Manny Mercado, Tony Olivo, Ashish Patel, John Schramm, Steve Sorge, Jeffrey Taylor, Mel Wallman.

Not rated.

DVD, NTSC, region 1; full screen (1.33:1) presentation; Dolby Digital stereo.

Sundance Film Festival, 2002: Director's Award - Documentary (Rob Fruchtman, Rebecca Cammisa).