SA Recovery Film Festival to focus on addiction

The festival has partnered SACAP (The South African College of Applied Psychology) and aims to educate, entertain, inform and to promote the solutions and successes of Recovery.

With the focus on Recovery internationally during the month of September, the festival hopes to lift some of the stigma that surrounds addiction, alcoholism and mental health issues. Shame and ignorance often drive these conditions making access to help difficult.

"The effects of alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health issues effect all communities in South Africa, increasing crime and violence, fuelling neglect of families with negative impacts on work, study and much more", said festival organiser Dougie Dudgeon.

"However, the positive impact of Recovery: fall in crime and violence, rebuilding families, ability to work - those in Recovery becoming active members of communities, role models and credible messengers of hope - needs to be celebrated."

A catalyst for positive change

"The South African Recovery Film Festival acts as a catalyst for positive change. Using film as an extremely powerful edutainment medium to share in the trials and tribulations of real-life people who have struggled with addiction, the festival draws the spotlight on the psychosocial causes and effects of addiction and helps to de-stigmatise it", said Lance Katz, Chief Executive of SACAP.

"Most importantly, the hopeful theme of recovery underscores the entire event, highlighting the solutions that exist and demonstrating through the powerful success stories of ordinary heroes that addiction can be beaten."

The festival's opening night (24 September) will be the South African premier of "A Royal Hangover" - a film about the ambivalent alcohol culture of Britain. Think Bowling For Columbine, only with alcohol instead of guns. The showing of the documentary will be followed by a panel discussion, looking at the South African context and issues.

To see the full programme, go to www.thesouthafricanrecoveryfilmfestival.co.za - tickets are available from Webtickets (www.webtickets.co.za) and cost R45.