“Our stories have a lot more to offer than how we have been painted for decades”: ANPUD releases 11 short films that can change your perspective on people who use drugs

Bangkok (14 January 2019) – The Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) has released 11 short films that are developed around issues of people who use drugs, particularly in the countries in South and Southeast Asian regions. The short films were submitted by filmmakers who have been part of the event “ANPUD Short Films Competition 2018”. The competition was launched in July 2018 in celebration of the 10th anniversary of ANPUD.

One of the viewers of ANPUD’s YouTube channel commented on a short film from the Philippines saying,

“While watching, the only way to not get my heart shattered into million pieces is to pretend I don’t have one…. pretending to be heartless, as heartless as President Duterte!!!”.

The short films depict the environmental (or contextual) realities in which drug using communities have been compelled to suffer from many forms of human rights abuses. These realities have been told in many platforms and are only one small aspect of the lives of people who use drugs. Each short film that ANPUD has released will tell or reveal truths about various aspects of their lives that have either been generally ignored or painted as evil and inhuman with moral/political inks.

Visit ANPUD's website to access all 11 short films.