We are fortunate in Sidney to have a local movie theatre, otherwise it’s unlikely that small, independent films would be accessible to many of us. At the Star Cinema in February an important film about homelessness, addiction and healing was shown, with a Q&A with Writer, Director and Producer, Krista Loughton.
The world premiere of Us and Them was held at Victoria City Hall in December. The film has screened to standing-room only audiences in Victoria and the documentary is now going on a Vancouver Island tour. Filmed over most of a decade, Us and Them is a feature documentary about the unlikely friendships that develop between four homeless and addicted people and filmmaker Krista Loughton. Loughton has been passionately working on this, her first feature length documentary, for the past eight years. Us and Them chronicles Loughton’s experience befriending four addicted and homeless street people with tragic pasts who ultimately change the course of her life. She participates on-screen in the film, while producing and being one of its writers and directors. This visceral film digs deep into the root causes of chronic homelessness while showing the capacity for transformation through human connection.
The film is written and directed by Loughton and multi-award winning filmmaker Jennifer Abbott who joined the project in 2013. Abbott is the co-director and editor of the widely acclaimed film The Corporation, frequently billed as the most successful documentary in Canadian history.
Krista Loughton’s future aspirations are to take Us and Them On The Road. The first trip would be to La Loche, SK, participant Karen Montgrand’s hometown. To finance the trip Loughton plans to do a “Let’s Take Karen Home” crowd funding campaign.
Loughton also hopes to plan a screening in Ottawa for all of Canada’s MP’s. This idea is still in the works, and ideally would involve a 10-city cross-Canada tour to raise awareness about chronic homelessness, addiction, and Housing First. This will also require further crowd funding and corporate sponsorship.
For more information visit www.usandthemthefilm.ca.
