Chris Vognar

All filmmakers aren't created equal, but most documentaries are still only as good as their subjects. In At the Death House Door, the latest doc from Hoop Dreams creators Steve James and Peter Gilbert, the Rev. Carroll Pickett makes for a subject you won't soon forget.

For 15 years Mr. Pickett was the chaplain that accompanied death house inmates during their final hours in Huntsville, Texas. Was he in favor of the death penalty? Was he against it? Not even his kids knew. But he did make audiocassettes after each of the 95 executions he witnessed. And in At the Death House Door, he slowly but surely bares his soul.

The filmmakers blend Mr. Pickett's story with that of Carlos De Luna, executed in Huntsville in 1989 for killing a man at a Corpus Christi gas station. In the film we see Chicago Tribune investigative reporters Steve Mills and Maurice Possley pursue and present evidence that the state killed the wrong man. (The Tribune also produced the film.) The reporters' path leads them to Mr. Pickett, who has been haunted by the De Luna case ever since he watched the young man die.

IFC

Carroll Pickett recorded his thoughts after 95 executions.

At the Death House Door doesn't quite reach the epic intimacy of Hoop Dreams, or even Mr. James's heartbreaking Stevie. But it's still a quiet powerhouse that leaves you thinking about the central issues and character long after the lights have gone up. If you can't catch it at the festival, it will premiere May 29 at 8 p.m. on IFC.

DETAILS: At the Death House Door screens today at 10:15 p.m. at the Magnolia.

Today at AFI

•Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story – Fun doc on the B-horror innovator. 12:15 p.m., Angelika.

•Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome – Doc on the great hip-hop rabble-rousers. 10 p.m., Angelika.

•Iron Ladies of Liberia – The story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first freely elected female head of state in Africa. 7 p.m., Magnolia.

The festival runs through April 6. For a complete schedule and ticket information, go to afidallas.com or call 214-720-0555.