Gucci Crackheads Battle Nihilism

The junkie documentary has a tendency to develop according to specific patterns. For instance, there is always the moment when the protagonist really decides to stop being a user. But the protagonist in this idiosyncratic and almost cheerful documentary is not in the least interested in stopping. Julie has lived life in the fast lane in the Internet industry. She has consciously given up hard work and earning money. She injects cocaine (sniffing is for amateurs, she thinks) and does so with an almost evangelical verve. As well as protagonist, Julie is also our guide in this film. She leads the film crew and the viewer at the same time through the underworld of San Francisco. For instance, the film takes us in her wake along users and dealers, alleyways and the toilets of striptease clubs. Like a true activist and graffiti artist, in the meantime, Julie scrawls her militant pro-drug opinions in every conceivable place in town. The film maker does not interrupt Julie, but follows her doggedly to avoid missing anything of her a wonderful world. The film was produced by John Maringouin, who is himself represented in this programme as director of the documentary Running Stumbled, about his addicted father. In turn, Molly Lynch produced the film by Maringouin. Together the films provide a striking and original duo about the often misunderstood life of a junkie. (GjZ)