By JOSEPHINE MENDEZ
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In a few short weeks, Huntington will once again be featured on a national stage for its drug epidemic, but unlike other stories that have been told about the city’s fight against drugs, this story will be told through the eyes of three women and will strive to inspire rather than to instill fear.
The documentary film “Heroin(e),” set to be released on the streaming service Netflix on Tuesday, Sept. 12, follows the lives of three women – Huntington Fire Chief Jan Rader, Cabell Family Court Judge Patricia Keller and Necia Freeman, a realtor – as they work to aid their community that has been forever altered by the opioid epidemic.
On Thursday, people were able to get their first look at their story when Netflix released a trailer for the film.
Soon the face of Freeman, who organizes a ministry for sex workers, comes into focus as she talks to a woman on the street who turned to prostitution and drugs after losing her job.
Next, Keller is shown in her courtroom disciplining a drug court participant who has been caught lying to a probation officer.
Separately, these women have been a force for good in the midst of the drug crisis; but together, they make up a movement that aims to make sure Huntington will not be defined by its drug problem.
For folks who watch the trailer and see the film, Rader said she hopes people are able to see Huntington in a different light.
“I want people to see that Huntington is a very close-knit community, it is a very caring place to live and to raise a family and we want what’s best for each other and we’re willing to help each other out,” she said.
Freeman said she too hopes the film will show outsiders that Huntington is much more than the drug problem it has become known for.
“Huntington is a beautiful place … it’s a beautiful town and we have to remember that there are also some beautiful souls that live here and they’re all worth saving,” she said. “We can turn this (drug problem) around, we just have to work at it together and not just one person at a time. That being said, sometimes you have to be the first person to take the steps to try and make a difference.”
Since 2011, Freeman has reached more than 300 women through her Brown Bags and Backpacks ministry, which provides meals, love and the word of Jesus Christ to women in Huntington who have turned to prostitution, a common side effect of drug addiction.
Elaine McMillion Sheldon, director and producer of “Heroin(e),” said she didn’t initially start out looking to make a film about women, but as more of the story line fell into place, that’s the direction she was led in.
McMillion Sheldon said she was introduced to Rader in early 2016 while working on a separate film with her husband, Kerrin Sheldon, who also worked on “Heroin(e)” as the director of photography and producer. Through Rader, the couple was then introduced to Keller and Freeman.
“We just felt like they were really great role models,” McMillion Sheldon said. “They show how one person can make a difference … and that is really inspiring.”
McMillion Sheldon said she and her husband are both natives of West Virginia and wanted to tell a story that would get a conversation going about this pandemic.
“I think that this is a very personal story to anyone,” she said. “Almost everyone in West Virginia I know knows someone impacted by this. I myself have classmates that have died of drug overdoses or are in prison from criminal activity stemming from their addiction or in rehab or currently still struggling with addiction.”
While Huntington does seem to be at the epicenter of the drug problem, with an overdose rate far exceeding the national average, McMillion Sheldon said this is not just a West Virginia story.
“This crisis is happening all across the country in towns big and small,” she said. “There are probably Jans, Necias and Patricias in a lot of communities that are working hard, and so we’re hoping to reach many different communities throughout the United States with this film. … This is not just a West Virginia story. It’s an American story.”
McMillion Sheldon said the film also serves as a way to highlight the important roles that women play in the community.
“Jan is the first (professional) female fire chief in West Virginia history, and I think it’s a film that also celebrates those achievements as well, being a community leader and being a woman,” she said. “But it’s not just about that. It’s about showing and sort of humanizing this story and making sure that the rest of American can relate to what’s happening because it’s happening in their own backyard.”
McMillion Sheldon is best known for her work as the director of “Hollow,” an interactive documentary that received a 2013 Peabody award, 2014 Emmy nomination and third prize in the World Press Photo Multimedia Awards.
“Heroin(e)” will make its world debut this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.
The film was funded by The Center for Investigative Reporting through its Glassbreaker Films initiative.
For more information about the film, go to http://heroinethefilm.com.
Follow reporter Josephine Mendez on Twitter @JozyMendezHD.
See more from The Herald-Dispatch
