HBO - Dope Sick Love (2005)

HBO - Dope Sick Love (2005)

The America Undercover documentary exclusively on HBO
Tracey getting her needle ready to shoot up Where are the characters now?
They say love conquers all, but can love survive on the streets of New York City? For drug-addicted couples like Matt and Tracy, and Sebastian and Michelle, the dream of romance must endure the reality of a desperate unending cycle of fixes, withdrawals, brawls and hustles.

The America Undercover documentary DOPE SICK LOVE tells the stories of these two couples. Cinematographers, Brent and Craig Renaud spent 18 months on the streets to capture the raw reality in a frightening and compelling you-are-there style. The special is executive produced by 11-time Emmy® winner Jon Alpert (HBO’s “High on Crack Street: Lost Lives of Lowell”).

Michelle and Sebastian after an intense fight on the subway “Dope Sick“ is the street term for the excruciating illness and pain that occur when an addict can’t get a fix. According to the government website, there are one million heroin addicts and eight million people who have used crack in the U.S.

Presented without music, effects, or narration, DOPE SICK LOVE is pure cinema verité, shot on the streets of lower Manhattan over a period of 18 months. It is stark and unrelenting. The camera follows the two couples into the corridors of apartment buildings where they shoot up; into the homes of the johns who pay for their services; and back out onto the streets as they chase their next fix.

“We didn’t want to make just another drug film,” says Craig Renaud. “Most films about drug addicts don’t adequately portray the horrors of addiction. Drug addiction controls every aspect of a user’s life. It reduces family, work, hobbies and friendships to distant memories. In order to capture this dark reality, we had to ‘embed’ ourselves into this life. When you watch DOPE SICK LOVE you won’t just see what its like to live this kind of life, you will feel it.”

Matt kisses a client goodbye The documentary takes place in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood of beautiful, historic brownstone houses and tree-lined streets. It’s also the place where Matt and Tracy score their drugs, and break into buildings to shoot heroin and smoke crack. Tracey was a 17-year-old in private school when she started experimenting with drugs. Matt, who has been on the streets since he was 14, prostitutes himself to gay men to support his habit. His mother would like to help him fight his drug addiction, but has lost hope, observing, “Matt was a good kid and then he grew up. I can’t deal with his lifestyle any longer.” Tracey’s long-suffering father won’t give up on his daughter. The weekly checks he sends her go entirely to support the couples’ drug habits. To get them off the streets, Tracey’s father finally decides that he has no choice but to rent an apartment for them in Brooklyn. This is a happy ending of sorts, but one that feels fragile, because Tracy and Matt continue to do drugs.

Without the financial support of family, Sebastian and Michelle have a tougher time. Sebastian engages in gay prostitution when the couple is desperate for money, but he doesn’t want his girl Michelle engaging in sex for money. Michelle is a master of the scam, luring prospective sex clients into compromising situations. Then, posing as a cop, she pulls out a fake badge and extorts cash from the johns in exchange for their “freedom.”
Sebastian and Michelle’s hand-to-mouth existence strains their relationship. As the high wears off they get into violent street fights. Eventually, the desire for drugs is stronger than their love for each other. They part ways and end up on the streets -- alone.

“Let this film be a warning to anyone who thinks that drugs will bring anything but degradation and desperation,” says Brent Renaud. “Even though DOPE SICK LOVE deals with two romances, nothing is romanticized in this documentary. There is nothing constructive about crack. There is nothing heroic about heroin. We wanted to bring the viewer close enough to the life of a drug addict to show the inevitable result.”

CREDITS
Directed by Felice Conte, and Brent and Craig Renaud;
Cinematographers/Editors, Brent and Craig Renaud;
Supervising Editor, John Custodio;
Executive Producer, Jon Alpert;
Co-Executive Producers Felice Conte and Jonathan Stack.
For HBO:
Senior Producer, Lisa Heller;
Executive Producer, Sheila Nevins.

Festivals & Awards:
WINNER: Hugo Award, 2005
WINNER: Cine Golden Eagle Award, 2005
WINNER: Telly Award, 2005
WINNER: Best Documentary- Big MiniDV Festival, 2005
WINNER: Best Feature Documentary, Syracuse International Film and
Video Festival, 2006
NOMINATED: Emmy Award for Best Documentary, 2006