Mounting pressures – including an unsolved family murder – test a close-knit rural community. Between the temptation to give up and the urge to hold on, the film lingers on what it means to come of age in a place left behind.

Director Biography - Laura Paglin

Laura Paglin is a documentary filmmaker whose more recent films have dealt specifically with struggles of marginalized communities. No Umbrella – Election Day in the City, which brings us a street level view of election day chaos as it played out in one inner city poling location, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Facing Forward: A Student’s Story, which follows a charismatic but troubled teenager at a strict new inner city charter school, aired nationally on PBS. Paglin’s Unseen, tells the complex and horrific story of the Anthony Sowell serial murders that were discovered in Cleveland, Ohio in 2009. Distributed by Filmrise, Unseen has become one of the more popular true crime documentaries on Amazon Prime, having made it to many “best of” lists.

Director Statement

As a long-time Ohio resident, I hadn’t known about Pike County until a 2016 mass murder brought it into the national spotlight. Curious, I visited in 2017, expecting to explore the tragedy’s aftermath but found myself more drawn to the people, the landscape and stories unrelated to the crime. To gain deeper access into the lives of the these individuals, I lived at the budget motel featured in the film. Over time, a larger story of generational struggles emerged—from drug abuse to environmental degradation, to the murders themselves rooted in a child custody dispute. I realized a traditional narrative wouldn’t capture Pike County’s complexity, so I adopted a thematic approach, allowing each story to stand alone while contributing to the community's portrait. This method let me juxtapose the community’s pain with its caring, joy, and resilience.