|
Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey
Halifax-based imX Communications and the NFB's Atlantic Studio have
completed production on Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey. The one-hour
documentary, written and directed by Connie Littlefield, is the
first to focus on maverick cops whose years of experience in fighting
the war on drugs has turned them into crusaders for legalization.
The film airs at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 9, as part of Global
TV's Global Currents; a new series of social issue documentaries.
Instead of making sweeping statements about the drug war, Damage
Done works on a human level - focusing on the transformation of
former drug-fighting cops.
They may be Libertarians, Republicans, Socialists, or evangelical
Christians, but the one thing they all have in common is their conviction
that the war on drugs is a terrible mistake. They include Canadian
Constable John Gayder, who is one of the founders of LEAP: Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition. It includes 18-year veteran Howard Wooldridge,
who rode a one-eyed horse across America while wearing his trademark
cowboy hat and a t-shirt emblazoned with "Cops Say Legalize
Drugs. Ask Me Why." The film also features Cele Castillo, who
spent 12 years with the US Drug Enforcement Administration - until
a friendly weekly soccer match between agents and members of a local
drug cartel made him realize that the drug war was all a game.
"All these guys underwent striking transformations," says
Littlefield. "One minute they were ordinary cops, paid to enforce
the law: then they each had an epiphany that changed them forever."
Littlefield's last documentary, Hofmann's Potion, was a portrait
of the optimism surrounding the early days of LSD - and her interest
in making drug-related documentaries is founded on deep personal
beliefs. "I'm fascinated by the degree to which we live in
denial about drugs-- not just about their prevalence, but about
their usefulness. My films are about exposing hypocrisy, and drug
policy is one of the most hypocritical things about our society."
Development on Damage Done was an odyssey of its own. Funding from
CanWest Global finally came through in March - for a late October
delivery!! That left a few short weeks to organize a shoot that
took the crew-- including Littlefield and Halifax cinematographer
Kyle Cameron-- to locations across North America. They went from
the Rio Grande, where there was abundant evidence of smuggling a
mere 20 feet from the US-Mexico border; to Vancouver's gritty Downtown
Eastside, home of Canada's first legal safe injection site; to New
York City with cop icon Frank Serpico; and to the halls of Parliament
with Senator Larry Campbell, a former drug cop, coroner, and mayor
of Vancouver. Now a member of Canada's Senate, he continues to fight
for an end to drug prohibition.
Angela Baker edited the project, which also features music by Asif
Illyas and Shehab Illyas of the band Mir.
Damage Done is produced by Ann Bernier (Folle Embellie, The Wild
Dogs) for imX, and Kent Martin (Westray, Hofmann's Potion) for the
NFB.
-30-
contact:
Ann Bernier: abernier (at) imx.ca
www.imxcommunications.com
© Conceptafilm
2003
All images © Conceptafilm, cinematography
by Kyle Cameron
|
|
