By Angela Brown

Documentary on homelessness coming to North Battleford

Aug 1, 2018 | 2:00 PM

A special documentary on homelessness will be coming to North Battleford for a free screening Friday afternoon.

The screening of Us and Them is presented by the Battlefords Indian Métis Friendship Center, and the Battlefords Affordable Housing and Homelessness Committee is helping organize the event.

“This event is important in order to increase compassion and empathy in the community for individuals in vulnerable circumstances,” Committee Chair Liana Clinton said in an email to battlefordsNOW. “By looking at homelessness and addiction through a compassionate lens perhaps we can begin to break down some of the misconceptions about why people end up in vulnerable circumstances, and encourage proactive solutions to the situation.”

Krista Loughton and Jennifer Abbott co-directed and wrote the film. Loughton said she will be attending the screening in N.B. and will be available to discuss the film with the audience after the event. 

“It’s been touring non-stop since it was released in 2016,” Loughton said. “There’s been community screenings right across the country.” 

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Loughton said the film, which is set on the streets of Victoria, focuses on the lives of four homeless people. One of the individuals featured, Karen Montgrand, is originally from La Loche, Sask. On a positive note, Loughton said today Montgrand is well and is no longer homeless. Loughton was with Montgrand in the La Loche area Tuesday starting work on a new film, to be called Home, as a follow up to Us and Them.  

Loughton said people who have seen Us and Them are often “very emotionally moved by it,” as the documentary gives a human face to homelessness. 

“My intention when I was making the film was to have people leave the theatre and never look at a homeless person the same way again, and that’s what’s happening,” she said. “I’ve had emails saying ‘that film changed my life; it changed my perception on things,’ so it’s really having a deep impact on how people think about homelessness and addiction.”

She said Us and Them shows that severe childhood trauma is often a common issue among people who become chronically homeless.

“For people who are out on the street it becomes very clear … the root cause is pain,” Loughton said.

“However, that’s not the full picture,” Loughton added. “The other part is the systemic reasons that make that situation happen to so many people. We have a real problem when people are in poverty in such a deep extent that they lose their housing.”  

Us and Them will be shown at the Capital Theatre starting at 2 p.m.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW