DIRECTOR: Laura Poitras
PRODUCERS: Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, Clare Carter, John Lyons, Howard Gertler
PRODUCTION CO: Praxis Films, Participant
PHOTOGRAPHY: Nan Goldin, Clare Carter, Robert Kolodny, Alexander W Lewis, Laura Poitras, Sean Vegezzi, Thom Pavia
EDITORS: Amy Foote, Joe Bini, Brian A Kates
MUSIC: Soundwalk Collective, Dawn Sutter Madell
FESTIVALS: Venice, Toronto, New York

REVIEW

“In her essential, urgent, and arrestingly structured documentary Oscar–winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) weaves two narratives: the fabled life and career of era-defining artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty Goldin personally took on in her fight to hold accountable those responsible for the deadly opioid epidemic. Following her own personal struggle with opioid addiction, Goldin, who rose from the New York ‘No Wave’ underground to become one of the great photographers of the late 20th century, put herself at the forefront of the battle against the Sacklers, both as an activist at art institutions around the world that had accepted millions from the family and as an advocate for the destigmatization of drug addiction. Illustrated with a rich trove of photographs by Goldin, who mesmerizingly narrates her own story, including her dysfunctional suburban upbringing, the loss of her teenage sister, and her community’s fight against AIDS in the 1980s, Poitras’s film is an enthralling, empowering work that stirringly connects personal tragedy, political awareness, and artistic expression.”

– New York Film Festival 2022.

“An incandescent work that examines Goldin’s personal life, her evolution as an artist, and her later turn toward harm-reduction advocacy, and understands them to be part of the same journey. At the film’s center is always Goldin’s determination to pull back the curtain of propriety and to show all the ugly, glorious truths behind it, whether with her childhood, with sexuality, with the stigma attached to sex work, with the AIDS crisis, or with the polite illusion that prescription drugs can’t destroy lives.”

​– Alison Willmore, Vulture

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

​Wellington  
Monday, 03 March, 6.15pm

​Wellington  
Monday, 03 March, 8.30pm​

Whanganui   
Monday, 10 March, 7.00pm​

Dunedin  
Wednesday, 26 March, 7.30pm

Palmerston North 
Wednesday, 09 April, 6.00pm​

Canterbury  
Monday, 28 April, 7.00pm

Bigger Picture Ōamaru  
Thursday, 08 May, 7.00pm

Hamilton  
Monday, 19 May, 6.30pm

​Carterton     
Friday, 30 May, 7.00pm

Tauranga 
Wednesday, 11 June, 6.00pm

Timaru  
Tuesday, 24 June, 6.30pm

​Queenstown     
Tuesday, 26 August, 8.00pm

​Nelson 
Wednesday, 10 September, 6.00pm
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​Auckland 
Monday, 20 October, 6.00pm
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