Video Advocacy

CRACKDOWN ON CIVIL SOCIETY

This film – produced by the Rights Reporter Foundation, supported by AFEW International – features activists and civil society organisations who are being increasingly targeted by repressive governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The movie presents a story of oppression, resistance and survival seen through the eyes of human rights defenders. They dedicated their lives to support the human rights of some of the most stigmatized and criminalised groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to be able to access health services.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: The World of Humans Who Use Drugs

The film takes us through one day in the life of eight people, from seven cities, in seven different countries of the world, from morning until night. They all have something in common – all of them use drugs. This film is not only about drug users – it was also produced by drug users. It strives to challenge our common myths and preconceptions about drugs and the people who use them. It gives a voice to those representing one of the most marginalised communities of our world, to tell stories untold about hate, love, suffering, and happiness. It shows how they engage in social activism to break the silence and fight the stigma that shadows their days.

CROSSINGS:
THE STORIES OF MIGRANT SEX WORKERS

Crossings is a sex-worker produced documentary about the effects of criminalisation on migrant sex workers in . Europe and the powerful ways of their resistance. The film tells the untold stories of five people from five European countries (Serbia, Macedonia, France, Spain, and Norway) who come from very diverse backgrounds but have something in common – all of them are migrants who sell sex. By sharing their experiences as women, men, migrants, LGBT people, single mothers, Muslims, Roma and sex workers, they challenge the sensationalist portrayal of all sex workers as “prostituted women” and “trafficking victims”.

JUST SAY KNOW SERIES

Drugreporter’s Just Say Know video series aims to educate the public about drugs, drug polices and harm reduction in a simple, easy-to-understand way, using the power of video advocacy and social media networks.

KOSTYA PROLETARSKY – THE ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY

The animated documentary movie is based on a true story of Kostya Proletarsky, a drug user and HIV activist who died as a result of mistreatment and torture at a Russian prison. The animation featuring the original audio interview with Kostya and his mother Irina, aims to commemorate Kostya and many others who had not survived prisons around the world. – THE FILM IS BEING SUBMITTED TO FESTIVALS

ROOM IN THE 8TH DISTRICT

Since 2006, the Blue Point NGO had been providing clean needles and syringes for the most marginalised injecting drug users in one of the most impoverished neighbourhoods of Budapest. This was the largest needle and syringe program, having reached out to more than 3,000 clients, most of them unemployed and living in poverty. The local mayor and his team accused the program of “attracting drug users to the district”, and blamed them for the presence of drug litter on the streets. Despite the first officially registered HIV transmissions among local drug users, the NGO was forced to shut down their service by the end of the summer.

INSITE – Not Just Injecting, But Connecting

Drugreporter traveled to Vancouver to film about Insite, the only legally operating injecting facility in North-America. When we arrived to Hastings Street, Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, where Insite is located, we were taken aback by the magnitude of the street drug use scene we found there. Hundreds of marginalized people live on the streets — they are virtually homeless because I would not call those crowded staffy buldings home where they get cheap a bed and breakfast. A lot of them come from other parts of Canada, where the climat is colder and there are no services like Insite, and all the other health and social services the Portland Hotel Society provides to drug users.