In an apartment above Fifth Avenue, some thirty young people live in a vortex of drug addiction and despair. In The Ninth Floor, Jessica Dimmock enters this world, exploring, in human terms, what has been lost and what may be recovered. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/the-ninth-floor
I watched a very interesting film that I found on Mediastorm. It opened my eyes to a lot of things that I never knew about addiction. This short film was about two drug addicts and how drugs have affected their lives. The filmmaker used b-roll, lots of still photos, and interviews to show a day in the life of these two addicts. Rachel and Dionn were a couple that was addicted to methadone because of the heavy drug abuse. The couple constantly fought and had arguments eventually that would lead to them making love. Soon after, Rachel discovers that she is pregnant. It was very likely that their child could have been born an addict, so doctors gave their new born opium. Opium is a a medicine that can help treat babies with possible addiction they get from mothers who use drugs during pregnancy. At the end of the film, Dionn was working to get into school to make a better life for his new daughter and family.
This film shows the hardships of people battling with serious addiction. It opens up my mind to think as if I were an addict and not to just judge. I was able to get past my assumptions about addiction because I felt like I was there with them. The filmmaker did this by using photos that were very detailed, personal, in the moment making me feel like I was a part of their struggle. Also, the interviews were very personal. You could tell they were being really honest. The music was very sad in the beginning to go along with the sadness of their addiction, but then when the baby was born it changed to more happy music because you could tell something different was going to happen. I'm glad I watched this film. Best wishes to all.
