In 2013, a group of filmmakers took us inside Kermit Gosnell’s House of Horrors in 3801 Lancaster. What their short film uncovered was truly shocking, and so powerful that it was the winner of the 2013 Justice Film Festival. But they weren’t finished investigating Kermit Gosnell and trying to discover how these atrocities were allowed to happen. And they got access to the person who never before had opened up about what happened behind the doors of the clinic: Kermit Gosnell himself.
In “3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy”, Gosnell will finally take the stand.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYijO3OrWBQ&w=560&h=315]
During the trial, everyone expected that Gosnell’s attorney would put him on the stand to testify in his own defense. But that never happened – so Gosnell’s perspective, his excuses, his defense, was never heard. But then, in 2014, Gosnell contacted the “3801 Lancaster” filmmakers offering to speak to them.
“If you are able to consider that my particular circumstances are exemplary of a larger and more important issue, you will have my full attention and cooperation…. Sincerely, Kermit Barron Gosnell”
For a year and a half, the filmmakers had access to Gosnell like no one else before. They spent months interviewing him, and Gosnell’s words will be released for everyone to hear on November 10th. In addition to interviewing Gosnell himself, the filmmakers also interviewed detectives, journalists, victims of Gosnell’s butchery, and crime scene technicians to delve deeper behind the scenes into what happened in his House of Horrors.
It is long past time for this kind of in-depth investigation; the media did all they could to try to keep the story quiet, as did Pennsylvania authorities. In their initial short film, the filmmakers were able to expose a cover-up, with violations dating as far back as 1989. The clinic hadn’t been inspected since 1993, even though local and state authorities were receiving numerous complaints about Gosnell. They were informed that Gosnell was butchering women, that multiple patients were dying. They knew that his patients were being infected with sexually transmitted diseases, that unlicensed staffers were illegally administering anesthesia, and that the conditions of Gosnell’s clinic were disgusting and subpar.
And through all of this, authorities did nothing.
Now, not only will the filmmakers further investigate how local and state officials allowed this to happen and how we can prevent it from happening again, they’ll also explore how a man once known as “The Good Doctor” became one of America’s most reviled serial killers.
“3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy” will be released on November 10th. Visit the film’s website to find out how to host a screening in your area.
