On Monday April 14, DIG IN will be presenting the second film in its DIG IN To DOCS documentary series. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.
This month's offering, Through a Blue Lens, is a compassionate look at the lives of the drug addicts who make their home in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The film, which starts at 7pm, will be shown at Bloor Collegiate, 1141 Bloor St W. It's pay what you can, but there is a recommended donation of $4 per person and $8 per family. Be forewarned, the film is very graphic and not suitable for young children.
When DIG IN chair Donna Cowan lent me a copy of the film to preview, I found it so compelling I watched it twice on the same night. I didn't watch because it's enjoyable. After all, there's nothing pleasant about seeing people suffer; however, the documentary presents that suffering in a way that makes the viewer care about the people he's looking at.
The film is so riveting largely because it was made by some of the police officers who patrol that part of Vancouver. In other words, it was made by people who had a good understanding of what the life on the Downtown Eastside is all about. Just as important, it was made by officers who seem to care about the people they're filming. This isn't voyeurism. It's an honest effort to understand the people who suffer from drug addiction.
When you live in a neighbourhood like Bloor-Lansdowne where drug addicts can at times make life unpleasant for other people, it's easy to forget they are human beings. A film like Through a Blue Lens reminds us that the wretched-looking people who smoke crack or sell their bodies in the laneway are real people not that much different from the rest of us. For me, one of the saddest moments in the film is the scene where a woman whose body has been ravaged by drugs shows a photo album full of pictures from her seemingly happy middle class childhood.
The panelists for the discussion will be Mr. Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Assistant for the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Peter Markwell from the John Howard Society, Susan Shepherd, manager of the Toronto Drug Strategy Secretariat, Staff Sergeant Laurie Jackson, Toronto Police Service, and Linda Cartain, Toronto Drug Treatment Court.
