Tag Archives: real stories

Britain’s Scariest Debt Collector

Years ago Shaun Smith was an enforcer for one of the biggest crime families in Liverpool and embroiled in a war against a rival drug gang.

Shaun introduced urban terrorism to the British underworld. He sprayed up houses with machine guns, tortured people and used homemade napalm to firebomb his enemies.

Today, after a spell of five years in prison for firearms offenses, he is trying to transfer those skills to the legal economy by working as a debt collector in the northern English satellite town of Warrington.

Love in the Time of Fentanyl

As overdose deaths in Vancouver, Canada reach an all-time high, the Overdose Prevention Society opens its doors in the Downtown Eastside, a neighborhood often referred to as “ground zero of the overdose crisis.” A renegade supervised drug consumption site that employs active and former drug users, the crew do whatever it takes to save lives and give hope to a deeply marginalized population while demanding more radical responses to the devastation ravaging their community. LOVE IN THE TIME OF FENTANYL reaches beyond the stigma of drug use, revealing the courage and compassion of those on the frontlines of the crisis.

The World’s Scariest Drug

We went to Colombia to check out a strange and powerful drug called Scopolamine, also known as “The Devil’s Breath.” It’s a substance so intense that it renders a person incapable of exercising free will. The first few days in the country were a harrowing montage of freaked-out dealers and unimaginable horror stories about Scopolamine. After meeting only a few people with firsthand experience, the story took a far darker turn than we ever could have imagined.

Psychics in the Suburbs

Psychics in the Suburbs is an insider’s look at the Australian psychic medium industry, revealed through the extraordinary life and work of south-western Sydney’s top psychic. Florence’s ability to communicate with the dead means that her clients are willing to pay top dollar for the chance to connect with deceased loved ones. It’s a business in Australia that is certainly booming, but also raising eyebrows.

The Opposition

The Opposition is a 2016 investigative documentary directed by Hollie Fifer. The film follows Joe Moses as he struggles to save his community from policemen wielding machetes and guns descending on the Paga Hill Settlement in Papua New Guinea to bulldoze their houses to the ground in order to build a five-star hotel.

Buying Sex

Buying Sex carefully guides the viewer through a wide spectrum of disagreement, exploring the many points of view in this age-old yet contemporary debate. Articulate and impassioned formerly prostituted women and sex workers make their claims for and against the proposed changes, while policy-makers, lawyers and even male consumers also offer insight and commentary on this vexing issue. Respecting the differences of ideology and opinion as Canada works its way toward an uneasy consensus, the film challenges us to think for ourselves and offers a gripping and invaluable account of just what is at stake for all of us.

The Colombian Prison Taken Over By Inmates

Following a riot, inmates have taken over an overcrowded prison in Colombia.
‘Boris’ – a Colombian national who grew up in London’s Grenfell Tower – shares his story by filming on an illegal phone as he struggles to survive.