Cottonland
Unemployment and Oxyctontin addiction in Cape Breton
Friday Night Docs by Cinema Politica Fredericton
Friday April 24, 2009
Screening begins 19h00
Venue: Conserver House, 180 St. John St.
Nance Ackerman / Canada / 2006 / 53 mins
When the last of Cape Breton's once thriving coalmines shut down in the late 1990s, the shrinking population of Glace Bay faced chronic unemployment. While covering the crisis, celebrated photographer Nance Ackerman saw what she describes as the human cost of cultural genocide in a white community struggling to come to terms with its loss. It was a tragedy that haunted Ackerman long after her assignment was over.
In her new film, Ackerman reveals how easy it is for a social dependency on the state to carry over into a personal dependency on a potent little pill, the prescription painkiller OxyContin. With the collaboration of recovering addict Eddie Buchanan, Cottonland guides us through a culture of despair. We encounter a number of smart, self-aware men and women at different stages of dependency. Some have managed to shift to the detoxifying effects of methadone; others remain in thrall to the power of their addiction. All speak candidly and unflinchingly of the ritual of the fix.
Nance Ackerman's analysis is as sharp as the end of a needle. Her film demystifies the world of the addict, while showing us the complex social nexus that contributes to such severe dependency.
Director
Nance Ackerman
Collaborating director
Edward Buchanan
Producer
Annette Clarke
Writer
Nance Ackerman
Contributing writer
Edward Buchanan
Cinematography
Alain Dupras
Editor
Angela Baker
Jury Award
Golden Sheaf Awards /Short Film and Video Festival
May 24 to 27 2007, Yorkton - Canada
Ed Higginson Award for Best Cinematography (Alain Dupras) - with a prize of $12,500 in equipment and service package
Atlantic Film Festival
September 14 to 23 2006, Halifax - Canada
Award for Best Direction (Nance Ackerman & Ed Buchanan) - with a cash prize of $1,000
Atlantic Film Festival
September 14 to 23 2006, Halifax - Canada
Rex Tasker Documentary Award - with a cash prize of $1,000
Atlantic Film Festival
September 14 to 23 2006, Halifax - Canada
