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Backgrounder
Excerpt from Filmmaker's Presentation
September 20, 2002
BCNU to co-sponsor feature film
Our support demonstrates nurses’ commitment to real health care solutions and to ways to improve the social determinants of health
BCNU has decided to co-sponsor a feature film that reveals the critical role of BCNU members who work as street nurses, and their efforts advocating for some of the most disadvantaged and dispossessed citizens in the province.
The film - "Fix: The Story of an Addicted City" - was made by the highly-acclaimed Vancouver film-maker Nettie Wild.
Filmed with the active assistance of RNs working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, it details the lives of drug addicts, their attempt to organize for improved living conditions, the efforts of officials to deal with the problem, and the political battle waged by Vancouver mayor Phillip Owen for a more humane approach, a battle that led to the refusal of his own political party to re-nominate him for another term of office.
By co-sponsoring this socially-progressive and dramatic film, BCNU demonstrates in a very real way that we are committed to fulfilling our mandate to promote social justice and the highest standards of health care for all.
Our contribution will be credited on the film itself, and at a series of forums that will follow screenings that will take place in theatres throughout the province and across the rest of Canada this fall. In addition, the film is scheduled for airing on the CTV network this fall.
Our contribution of $35,000 will go toward transferring the production from video tape to 35 millimetre film, a process that is necessary for screenings in cinemas. It will also be used to support the screenings and forums in various communities around BC.
"By assisting with this project, BCNU shows that nurses and our union care deeply about the patients, the clients, the residents we serve no matter where we work," says BCNU president Debra McPherson. "While we devote a lot of energy and resources fighting for improved wages and working conditions for our members, the main concern of every nurse is the health and well-being of our patients and our communities. Our involvement with this film demonstrates clearly our commitment to real health care solutions and to ways to improve the social determinants of health."
For more information visit the BCNU website at www.bcnu.org or contact your steward.
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