Pubdate: Wed, 23 Apr 2003
Source: Oliver Chronicle (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Oliver Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.oliverchronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/875
Author: Leslie Plaskett

FILM BRINGS POWERFUL MESSAGE ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION TO OLIVER

Nettie Wild is busy fielding phone calls in her Vancouver office Thursday, 
but this isn't unusual for the producer/director of a critically acclaimed 
film. She spends a few moments tucking away loose ends to clear the way for 
an interview, but once that is accomplished she is fully engaged. And engaging.

It takes more than creativity to film a documentary about the dark alleys 
of drug addiction in Vancouver's east side; it takes courage, sensitivity 
and the ability to let the story take on a life of its own.

Wild is acutely aware of the need to let a narrative speak true to its 
unique character, never forcing its shape or influencing the direction it 
takes. And while filming Fix: The Story of an Addicted City she found 
herself winding down roads less travelled and certainly not expected. "You 
have to be open to where it's going to take you and open to its 
contradictions. And you can't back away from the gnarls: the gnarls are 
what makes it. And I ran into a lot of gnarls."

Her laughter at the memory is warm with compassion. It seems as though she 
is incapable of disdain, a quality that recurs like a theme throughout her 
conversation, "I am from Vancouver," she says when asked what compelled to 
her to make the film, "and my home is in a lot of trouble. But I didn't 
want to make a movie about how awful it was."

Instead she got wind of a group of people, "health professionals and users 
who were taking risks to deal with the big issues of addiction as an 
illness." These individuals became the focal point of her film, "they asked 
the tough questions: 'is every life worthy or is there this population 
whose lives are negotiable?'"

While filming Wild says she "saw how the situation could move from 
dysfunctional stasis to a point where the paralysis is broken." She is 
referring to a gentler more humane way to approach the problem of drug 
addiction; one that causes controversy, anger and fear. "We don't need to 
reinvent the wheel," she says of safe injection sites and other progressive 
ways to face the problem, "there are 26 cities doing this already."

But not in North America, "Baltimore received a lot of attention just with 
their attempt at harm reduction," Wild states passionately, "they have been 
reasonably successful with providing needle exchanges and street nurses but 
safe injection sites were out of the question. The program was met with a 
continuum of controversy."

She disagrees with the United States and their aggressive stance against 
drugs, "they use terms such as embattled and war on drugs; they see 
incarceration as a solution. It's one of the reasons we're so far behind."

Yet in Canada and in particularly in British Columbia she feels there is 
hope and it seems ironic that she should come to this conclusion while 
filming an area that is steeped in despair. But 'Fix' has two meanings and 
it is the ability to heal or mend that Wild sees unfold as she tours with 
her film. "It is almost a social movement," she says of the momentum gained 
and the effect 'Fix" has on its audience. "I am discovering as I take the 
film around that there are people, not just in Vancouver, but in 
communities throughout BC, that want to do things to help - they are way 
ahead of the politicians."

"People are worried about their own home," she observes about the 
discussions that take place in the forums after the movie has run. "The 
discussions are really well attended and there are people there who ground 
the discussions in the home scene." Wild says that there are always local 
health workers in each community and she says she particularly welcomes 
"the people who don't buy into this a bit - they ask the best questions."

And in her opinion there are plenty of questions to ask, "Many smaller 
communities have a direct tie to the drug scene in Vancouver," she remarks, 
adding that often kids "go to Vancouver to party then come home to die." 
She asks, "Where else does it begin if not in your home town?"

The problem exists in small communities she explains, but unlike Vancouver 
where it is highly visible, "there is a tremendous amount of energy 
expended (in one's home town) to keep it hidden. It becomes a legacy of 
shame." People in Whitehorse, for example, were shocked to learn from a 
street nurse that over 12,000 needles were handed out in a needle exchange.

Wild, who is well known for her documentary on the Zapatista upraising in 
Chiapas, Mexico says that this particular story touched her in a deeper 
more meaningful way, "It was different. It was my province, my backyard. I 
filmed an extraordinary group of people," she says of the four who were 
pivotal to the story: Ann Livingston, a non user and organizer for the 
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users; Dean Wilson, a former IBM salesman 
and current drug addict and activist; former Vancouver Mayor, Philip Owen 
who championed the drug philosophy of harm reduction and lost his job in 
the process; and Vancouver Police Sergeant Doug Lang who deals with the 
reality of the streets and describes his job as 'shoveling water'.

The story of Philip Owen in itself is intriguing. "Here was this opaque guy 
at City Hall and his own party kicked him out because of his involvement," 
she says in amazement noting that "it may have been the rise and fall of 
Philip Owen - but at least he can sleep at night."

Wild sums up her documentary with a sense of passion and belief, "The film 
woos people in; it is a story well told and by seeing it people will walk 
down a road they never would normally walk." If her film is anything like 
her conversation it will be a fascinating journey.

Note: The film is playing at the Oliver Theatre Apr. 29; Wild will answer 
questions about Fix: The Story of an Addicted City after it is shown. Ken 
Benson of the Centre of Disease Control in Penticton and other local health 
care workers will also be in attendance.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom