FIX: The Story of an Addicted City (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Nettie Wild

Genre:

Documentary

Plot Keywords:

Overdose | Drug Enforcement | Chinatown | Social Activism | Salesman

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ann Livingston	...	Herself
Phillip Owen	...	Himself
Dean Wilson	...	Himself

Runtime:

92 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

New Zealand:R13

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Canada Wild Productions

Quotes:

media reporter: Why not put all these people in treatment?
Ann Livingston: Can you describe what you mean by treatment?
media reporter: ...get them off the drugs, put them in detox centres and uh...
Ann Livingston: Do you have ANY idea what you are talking about?

Well done story about a city's drug culture.

Fix tells the story of the torturous progress of the campaign to set up a safe-injection site for hard drug users in Vancouver's bombed-out downtown east side. The film does a good job to concentrate on two strong narrative stories relating to the fight: Mayor (at the time) Phillip Owen's struggle to pass harm-reduction legislation through city council and social worker Ann Livingston's relentless advocacy for the city's drug users.

While many graphic scenes of heroin injection may not make Fix the best choice for the squeamish, Fix is a fast-moving and completely absorbing look at the political and personal dimensions of an out-of-control hard drug use culture in a North American city. Another appealing feature of this documentary is the fair hearing given to opponents of safe injection sites in the city, a route that many less-honest documentaries do not take.

If you catch the film during its cross-Canada tour you will get a chance to participate in an interesting open forum afterwards with people involved in the film.