By Jean Strahlendorf
Special to The PREVIEW
On Friday, Nov. 8, “The House I Live In,” one of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2012, will be shown free of charge at the Ross Aragon Community Center.
Critics have declared that this documentary is, “comprehensive in scope, heart wrenching in its humanity, and brilliant in its thesis. Jarecki’s film grabs viewers and shakes them to their core. ‘The House I Live In’ is not only the definitive film on the failure of America’s drug war, but it is also a masterpiece filled with hope and the potential to effect change. This film is surely destined for the annals of documentary history. It tells heart-wrenching stories from individuals at all levels of America’s War-on-Drugs, from the dealer to grieving mother, the narcotics officer, and prison personnel. It represents a penetrating look inside America’s longest war — a definitive portrait revealing its profound human rights implications.”
Ty Burr of the Boston Globe stated, “I’d hate to imply that it’s your civic duty to see this movie, but guess what — it is.”
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times, wrote, “Director Eugene Jarecki’s film makes a shattering case against the War-on-Drugs, using street footage, prison footage and the closer-to-home story of Nannie Jeter, the Jarecki family’s long time housekeeper, whose own son was arrested.”
The Sundance Film Festival described this documentary as “FEARLESS! A model of the ambitious, vitalizing activist work that exists to stir the sleeping to wake.”
Over more than 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, has cost over $1 trillion, has made America the world’s largest jailer, and has damaged poor communities at home and abroad. Yet, drugs are cheaper, purer and more available today than ever.
Where did we go wrong and what is the path toward healing?
Find out why the U.S. is home to only 5 percent of the world’s population but has 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated people at this free screening of “The House I Live In.” The documentary describes how the War on Drugs has failed America’s forgotten poor, black and brown drug addicts. Learn how the “Get tough on Crime” attitude has transformed drug addiction, race and poverty into punishable offenses.
Although people of all races use and sell drugs, the War on Drugs targets people of color. The results are devastating, not only for individuals, but also for their families and communities.
Brought to you by award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki and executive producers Brad Pitt, John Legend, Russell Simmons and George Clooney, “The House I Live In” examines the effects of drug laws on everyone from the dealer and the grieving mother to the jailer and the federal judge inside America’s longest war.
“The House I Live In,” a prize-winning documentary about the failure of the War on Drugs will be shown Friday, Nov. 8, at the Ross Aragon Community Center, South Room, from 6-8 p.m. This program is free and open to the community and will be followed by discussion with legal experts.
Refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
