New Jersey International Film Festival

Altona, Shame on You – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!

Expired June 2, 2024 3:59 AM
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Shame on You – Jeffrey Himpele (Princeton, New Jersey)

This film exposes the untold personal costs of victims of the debt collection industry that is enabled by fear of the judicial system and hidden shame about debt. In this animated documentary, we recreate our telephone interviews and the personal stories of people trapped in debt collection lawsuits. We want audiences to openly discuss how shame is used in relation to debt, and to assertively talk about their own debt collection cases. The low value/high volume debt collection business is massive - 1 in 4 people have been pursued by a debt collector. But the stories are untold and cases are unopposed because of shame. Consequently, in some states 90% of debtors are unrepresented in courts and many of those end in default judgements against debtors. Here, our interviewees start a conversation about an industry that uses shame and the courts against people who have everything to lose. This is the shame that should be carried by those who put them in these debts in the first place. 2023; 11 min.

  • Year
    2023
  • Runtime
    11 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Director
    Jeffrey Himpele
  • Screenwriter
    Ann Neumann
  • Producer
    Jeffrey Himpele
  • Executive Producer
    Frederick F. Wherry
  • Cast
    Vivia Font, Ann Neumann, Dana Green, Melody Butiu,
  • Editor
    Jeffrey Himpele
  • Animator
    Michael Arthur
  • Sound Design
    Jeffrey Himpele