Incarcerated participants in a mental health experiment watch nature videos on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and the wilderness.
AFI Fest, BFI London Film Festival, Hot Docs, Ji.hlava IDFF, New Orleans Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Prismatic Ground, Raindance FF, Indie Memphis, Rooftop Films Summer Series, IFF Boston, Nashville Film Festival, Mountainfilm in Telluride, Tacoma Film Festival, Doc Point Helsinki, Woodstock Film Festival, Double Exposure Investigative Documentary FF, Centre FF, Kendal Mountain FF, Wild & Scenic FF, DC Environmental Film Festival, Cosmic Rays FF, Fargo FF, Buffalo International FF
Best Short Documentary: Buffalo International Film Festival
Best Short Documentary: Lake Stevens Film Festival
Best Environmental Film: McMinnville Short Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short: Tacoma Film Festival
New York Times Op-Docs
Supported by: If/Then Films | Field of Vision, Rooftop Films Short Film Fund, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Mountainfilm Commitment Grant
Press:
Filmmaker: “An inverse form of psychiatric conditioning appears in Merete Mueller’s ‘Blue Room,’ in which participants within two US prisons take part in a ‘mental health experiment’ by watching nature videos on loop. When one participant describes thinking about the room where he watches the nature videos when he sees glimpses of trees outside, one only hopes that deconditioning is still possible.”
ForReel Movies: “The minimalism of ‘Blue Room’ speaks volumes about the isolating conditions inmates endure, the effect that has on their mental health, and how important nature is to our psyche.”
Short of the Week: “A surprising and memorable watch.”
Little Black Book: “Beautifully still.”
Lake Stevens FF Jury Statement: “In a media landscape riddled with lurid details of prison life, ‘Blue Room’ refocused our attention on a quietly devastating aspect of American incarceration…the jury was very impressed by Blue Room’s curious gaze and incisive editing.”