“Some of these sites are seen in news clips but there’s never really been a film that’s a day-in-the-life-inside-an-injection-site before,” says Love in the Time of Fentanyl director Colin Askey. “Because of my relationships with these people I had that access.” Love in the Time of Fentanyl, executive produced by Sean Baker (The Florida Project), takes audiences to the front lines of the opioid crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside where a grassroots group endeavours to help a community in crisis. Following characters like Ronnie Grigg, the film observes how this community group emphasizes harm reduction by creating a space where Vancouverites can manage their addictions safely in a room of their peers, rather than in the back alleys and corners of the city. The film is a powerful look at the role that safe injection sites can play in rising epidemic.
Love in the Time of Fentanyl opens this weekend at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema following a festival run that included a win for the Colin Low Award for Best Director of a Canadian Documentary at DOXA. The Hot Docs run features an in-depth discussion following the screening on Sunday, March 26 about the role that safe injection sites can play in a community. The panel, moderated by Matt Johnson of Safe Consumption Services PQWCHC, will include film subjects Norma Vaillancourt, Trey Helten and Ronnie Grigg, along with Nanky Rai, Primary Care Physician, PQWCHC. Sunday’s screening will also include a demonstration on the safe administration of Naloxone. Love in the Time of Fentanyl screens again on March 28 and April 1.
Thanks to Lost Time Media, POV has tickets to give away to the Sunday screening and panel of Love in the Time of Fentanyl at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. All you have to do to enter is answer the following question:
What is the name of the citizen-run safe-injection site featured in Love in the Time of Fentanyl?
a) Eastside Cares
b) Leading with Care
c) Overdose Prevention Society
d) Vancouver’s First Responders
(Need a hint? Read our interview with director Colin Askey to find out!)
Email your answer to info@povmagazine.com with the subject “Contest.” Please note that this is an in-theatre event.
Love in the Time of Fentanyl screens at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema beginning March 26.
Synopsis: A group of misfits, artists, and drug users operates a renegade safe injection site in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Love in the Time of Fentanyl is an intimate portrait of a community fighting to save lives and keep hope alive in a neighbourhood ravaged by the overdose crisis.