Julia Christgau

A short film.

In May 1988, girlfriends Claudia Brenner and Rebecca Wight were attacked while hiking the Appalachian Trail by a 'mountain man' named Stephen Roy Carr. Combining documentary and narrative material, IN THE HOLLOW tells the story of the shooting, Wight's death, and Brenner's desperate survival (and later transformation into an advocate for hate crime legislation in the U.S.) as she returns to the trail for the first time since the shooting.

This story takes place in a tiny mountain town in Western North Carolina, and centers on two young women, Alex and Janie, who have been best friends since childhood but are now caught in a secret relationship. Alex is cheating on her high-school sweetheart, and Janie is becoming increasingly restless with the intolerant nature of her hometown.