FIX: The Story of an Addicted City (2002) Screening and Director/Collaborators Discussion

FIX: the Story of an Addicted City

feature documentary, 92 mins, 2002

Doors open at 1:00PM, screening begins at 2:00PM

---   

Dean Wilson used to be an IBM salesman.  Now, as president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), he is the most politically outspoken drug addict in Canada.         

Ann Livingston, a non-user, is the charismatic co-founder of VANDU.  Dean loves Ann.  but he is also a captive of the drugs he uses.  Together, Ann and Dean lead an unpredictable crew of street entrenched drug users in their fight to open North American’s first safe injection site.                  

They find a curious ally in Philip Owen, the conservative mayor of Vancouver who rejects the US-style War on Drugs.  Instead he champions a controversial European approach called Harm Reduction which includes safe injection sites.  Opposed by members of his own party, the Mayor stakes his political career on Harm Reduction.  The people who use drugs say they are staking their lives on it.

FIX follows these real life characters for two years as their stories interconnect in a battle for the hearts, minds and streets of a city each one calls home.

Joining director Nettie Wild for the post screening discussion will be fellow collaborators producers Betsy Carson and Gary Marcuse.  

---

“As a political act, FIX is an urgent and just and heartbreaking film.  As a work of art it expands the known limits of human nature with remarkable portraits.” 

Michael Ondaatje, author, The English Patient

“A quest to open North America’s first safe injection site evolves into a love story and a revolution.  This unblinking and beautifully rendered portrait about Vancouver’s drug plague altered a civic election.”  

Ken MacQueen, MacLean’s Magazine.

---

Awards

Best Canadian Feature Length Documentary, Genie Awards,

Audience Favorite co-winner, Vancouver International Film Festival

Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival