The documentary filmmaking class premiered its film “The Prison Games” on Tuesday night in Plaster Auditorium.

The documentary covered a series of football games played during the 1960s and ’70s between the Hillsdale Chargers and a team of prisoners within the State Prison of Southern Michigan facility in Jackson, Michigan. 

“This is an absolutely fascinating story,” Moorehouse said, “and the fascinating thing about it is that before this documentary, it’s never been told before, ever.”

“The Prison Games” is a half-hour long film. Students Alex Deimel, Jane Kitchen, Erin Osborne, Ty Ruddy, and Logan Washburn spent the majority of the semester working together to conduct research, gather and record film, and interview individuals involved in the story.

“I think getting to interview people who have had those life experiences was definitely my favorite part,” said sophomore Ty Ruddy, a researcher for the documentary. “The most challenging part was research, trying to figure out what went down in the prison.”

The story began in the 1960s, when the Hillsdale College football team had so many players that coach Frank “Muddy” Waters created a reserve team. The reserve team played an annual game at the Jackson Prison against the prisoners. The prison team was created to encourage inmates to be on good behavior. The Michigan State University and Detroit Lions donated used equipment for the prison team.

The story of the games were never covered in the media in any form, Moorehouse said.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of information on the story, but it was very rewarding to get to interview some of the members of the team that played against Jackson Prison,” Ruddy said, “so we just let them tell the story through their own eyes.”

Ruddy said the interview process was key to the success of the film, and it was through the stories of the original football players that the students working on the film were able to piece together the whole story.

“It was so cool that they were able to find the football players and were able to interview them,” said sophomore Christina Lewis, who attended the premiere, “Some of the players showed up here to watch their documentary, so it was cool to see their reactions.”

In addition to the showing of “The Prison Games” documentary, the five students also presented their own short documentaries.

The short films covered a variety of topics, ranging from local history, famous alumni, and student features.

Deimel made his short film about his friend junior Andrew Klare who is a Cincinnati Bengals fanatic. The film was about Klare’s passion for the team.

“Being able to tell a story about a very good friend of mine and about something that he’s passionate about was awesome,” Deimel said.