Facing the Habit

Looking for Johnny(en)

Johnny Thunders was the legendary hard-living rock'n'roll guitarist who inspired glam-metal, punk and the music scene in general. 'Looking For Johnny' is a 90-minute film that documents Thunders' career from his beginnings to his tragic death in 1991. The film examines Johnny Thunders' career from the early 70's as a founding member of the influential New York Dolls; the birth of the punk scene with The Heartbreakers in New York City and London; Gang War and The Oddballs. It also explores Johnny's unique musical style, his personal battle with drugs and theories on his death in a New Orleans hotel in 1991 at age 38. The film includes forty songs with historic film of Johnny, including unseen New York Dolls and Heartbreakers footage and photos. Cult filmmakers Bob Gruen, Don Letts, Patrick Grandperret, Rachael Amadeo and others contribute classic archive footage.

Iboga Nights(en)

Once again, David Graham Scott examines how some addicts use the plant medicine iboga to detox rapidly—and how, sometimes, the conditions in which they detox put them at risk.

Yours Truly, SEXYMAJA(sr)

In the summer of 2005 a sensation appeared on domestic social networks in the form of a blog titled “Maja in a brothel.” The author of this blog, whose nickname was “sexymaja”, identified herself as a girl from Belgrade, who has just started in the prostitution business. She soon became one of the most popular persona on the web, entertaining numerous readers with witty and provocative descriptions of the clients she had met. However, after her mysterious disappearance from the scene, suspicions were aroused about the identity of this person. The blog community points a finger at a ghostwriter, who was allegedly responsible for the entire conspiracy. He admits it, but without much hesitation also leads us to its inspiration – a girl who’s actually lived through it all.

Searching Eva(de)

This is the tale of a young woman, growing up in the age of the internet and turning the search for oneself into a public spectacle, allowing kids from all over the world to live their life through hers. Through her fragmented personalities you see the emergence of a new generation, in which the concept of a fixed identity has grown old.

Cold Turkey(en)

Leo Regan follows his friend, photographer Lanre Fehintola, as he tries to go cold turkey (detox) from heroin in his council flat and without medication.

Using(zh)

Documentary filmmaker Zhou Hao examines the complicated relationship between two drug addicts who become dealers over the course of three years. Shot in the city of Guangzhou, the film offers a rare look into China's unknown heroin subculture.

Last Fast Ride: The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess(en)

Henry Rollins narrates Lilly Scourtis Ayers' no-holds-barred profile of volatile Bay Area punk legend Marian Anderson, whose hypnotic beauty, devil-may-care rebellion and shocking sexual exploits onstage launched her to infamy before tragically dying of a heroin overdose at the tender age of 33.

Dosed(en)

The documentary follows one woman's quest to overcome anxiety, depression, and opioid addiction through the use of psychedelic medicines.

Through a Blue Lens(en)

This documentary, set in the Lower East End of Vancouver's downtown core, is a pretty honest account of life on the streets in urban Canada. It is aimed at educating high school kids on the dangers of addiction to hard drugs and is the brainchild of a group of city police officers who videotape their interactions with local homeless personalities.

I'm Dangerous With Love(en)

A haunting, visceral exploration of addiction and one contemporary man's fearless and determined quest for healing and redemption through the ancient wisdom of the Bwiti and their 'magical' plant, Iboga. For those seeking a path out of darkness, this film is not to be missed.

Ibogaine: Rite of Passage(en)

Ibogaine is a plant extract that stops drug addiction. In this documentary, a 34-year-old heroin addict undergoes ibogaine therapy with Dr Martin Polanco at the Ibogaine Association, a clinic in Rosarito, Mexico. In Gabon, where use of the iboga root is traditional, a Babongo woman's tribe uses the plant to help her recover from a depressive malaise. Director Benjamin De Loenen interviews people formerly addicted to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, who share their perspectives about ibogaine treatment.

Moments Like This Never Last(en)

Dash Snow rejected a life of privilege to make his own way as an artist on the streets of downtown New York City in the late 1990s. Developing from a notorious graffiti tagger into an international art star, he documented his drug- and alcohol-fueled nights with the surrogate family he formed with friends and fellow artists Ryan McGinley and Dan Colen before his death by heroin overdose in 2009. Drawing from Snow’s unforgettable body of work and involving archival footage, Cheryl Dunn’s exceptional portrait captures his all-too-brief life of reckless excess and creativity.

The before and after of John Frusciante - VPRO 1994(en)

Jim Morrison: The End(fr)

Paris, Rue Beautreillis, July 3, 1971. The corpse of rock star Jim Morrison is found in a bathtub, in the apartment of his girlfriend Pamela Courson. The chronicle of the last months of the life of the poet, singer and charismatic leader of the American band The Doors, one of the most influential in the history of rock.

Who Killed Nancy?(en)

On October 12th, 1978, New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a young woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper, heroin addict, and girlfriend of Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious.

I forgive you, Mama(es)

Maya is Ayaibex's daughter, an addict in recovery that feels a blame for damages that caused her daughter, Maya decides to remember her mother's childhood experiences in her world of addiction to seek the redemption of the weight that her mother has loaded for 20 years and get both to forgiveness.

Life of Crime 2(en)

This follow-up to the 1989 documentary ONE YEAR IN A LIFE OF CRIME revisits three of the original subjects in New Jersey during a five-year period in the 1990s. We share in their triumphs and setbacks as they navigate lives of poverty, drug abuse, AIDS, and petty crime.

Подвалы ул. Дыбенко(ru)

In the Russian city of St. Petersburg, in the Dybenko basements, drug addict children survive by taking drugs. This is an attempt to look into this terrible world from the inside.

The Story of Junkie Junior(en)

Junior Rios started using heroin when he was 15. At age 29, Junior is a father of three. To support his $200-a-day heroin habit, he scours the rooftops of the South Bronx for materials he can sell. When he's finally caught, he enters an aggressive rehab program. Meanwhile, his ex has moved on, and is trying to make a better life for herself and their children.

HairKutt(en)

In this chilling documentary about the power of addiction, three friends take their fourth longtime pal Bryant "HairKutt" Johnson to a remote cabin in the Tennessee woods, hoping to force him to kick his heroin habit. The group must cut short their trip when HairKutt's body begins to fail without the drug, and after rushing him to a hospital, the friends are dismayed to find that he quickly returns to his old ways.