THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE [Documentary]
An effective and extremely personal documentary (the filmmaker is in 'AA') about the new belief that Alcoholics Anonymous and its members should come "out of the closet" en masse, in much the same way that Gay groups have outed themselves while banding together to leverage power and acceptance in equal measure!
3 stars (out of 4, MUST-SEE for AA'ers) [(2013)docu-USA/AliveMindCinema(Kino-Lorber)] - (1 hr 28 min)
Co-written & Directed by Greg D. Williams (also featured in the film)
Writers: Aaron Cohen, Bud Mikhitarian and Jeff Reilly
Featuring the following "People in Recovery":
Kristen Johnston (Author of 'Guts'/Actor on TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Chris Herren (Former NBA star, feat. on ESPN's Unguarded)
Laurie Dhue (Veteran News Anchor /TV's The Pulse)
William Cope Moyers (Author of 'Broken')
Tara Conner (Miss USA 2006)
Mercedes McCambridge (Actress, 'Giant'-1956/B&W archive clip)
Cameos (archive clips):
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)
Actor Dick Van Dyke ("Mary Poppins," many others)
Actor Dana Andrews ("Laura," many others)
Review:
If you've heard of AA or Alcoholics Anonymous, then there's a good chance you may also be acquainted with one (or more) of the over 23 million people who are in "recovery." However, that part of their lives often proves too much of a burden to share, which is why the film THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE makes the perfect icebreaker for friends & family of those in recovery.
For decades AA has a Tradition of Anonymity ... sort of. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to surmise that a group of people smoking outside a Church meeting room late in the evening are probably AA'ers and not members of the choir, but for the most part the members that attend the meetings keep the confessions, revelations, and stories to themselves.
First-time filmmaker (and long-time recovery member) Greg D. Williams decided the "secrecy" aspect of AA needed to be challenged and he was determined to film his own recovery and then many of the other people he had met along the way. Even some more famous faces that have braved the stigma appear in the film, as they have continued their public lives in open recovery thus proving there is no longer a need for secrecy.
Gay people "in the closet" had to live dual lives to keep their sexual orientation secret from the 'straight' world,especially neighbors, relatives, co-workers, etc. By coming "out" and getting married in public they shifted from a life in the shadows to one in the spotlight. Now the "Recovery World" is starting to realize that being "anonymous" isn't all it's cracked up to be and that the time has come to open up and inform the public of their existence.
And that is why THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE is important to this new generation of people in recovery who can use social media to shine light on their shadowy pasts and help others suffering in silence. The documentary will hopefully positively impact society as a whole as the stigma will be reduced and more non-recovery folk will become better informed and more empathetic. One can only imagine what it's like to try to live a sober life while turning on the TV forces one to endure beer commercials galore and the dozens of other ads for wine, liquor, the "good life," etc. beaming up at them from magazine stands & store windows.
Probably the most recognizable face of this new movement is that of Comic actress Kristen Johnston (TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun, & TV-Land's The Exes), who has opened up about her recovery on talk shows and in-person at AA-oriented seminars. Her thoughts on the "disease" are not only eloquent, but she also injects the topic with her trademark humor.
Addiction is an illness that can't be cured, but the dragon called Stigma is about to be slain once and for all. If the Gay Movement made "Silence = Death" a slogan for successful activism then "Anonymity" must be stricken from the record along with the letters "AA."
I would highly encourage anyone sympathetic to this chronic disorder and those it afflcts to see this thoughtfully presented documentary (preferably opening weekend), which outlines the history of the AA organization and it's fight for legitimacy with the government administrations of the 50's & 60's. It's been a long road traveled by millions of longtime recovering alcoholics who are making the move to end their anonymity ... to come out and be accepted for who they are.
Get informed, go see THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE, and help the People in Longterm Recovery come out once and for all.
Movie website: http://manyfaces1voice.org/#the-film
FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheAnonymousPeopleMovie
Abbreviations:
AA - Alcoholics Anonymous
Additional interviews with:
Tom Coderre (In recovery/Chief of Staff to the RI Senate Pres.)
Patrick Kennedy (In recovery/Former member of Congress)
Jim Ramstad (In recovery/Former member of Congress)
Emma Edelman (Phoenix House)
Tom Hedrick (The Partnership at DrugFree.org)
Carol McDaid (Lobbyist/Co-founder, Virginia's McShin Foundation)
John Shinholser (Co-founder, Virginia's McShin Foundation)
Bill White (Emeritus Senior Research Consultant at Chestnut Health Systems)
Clips/Archive footage:
B&W clip of AA co-founders "Bill W." (Bill Wilson) and "Dr. Bob" (Bob Wilson)
David Letterman interviews Kristen Johnston (NBC's Late Night show)
B&W Clip of Marty Mann's 1945 speech "No Stigma" (Author & founder of the National Council on Alcoholiam)
Bill O'Reilly & Matt Lauer discussing the overdone of singer Whitney Houston (NBC's Today Show)
Clint Eastwood "Anti-Crack" Public Service Announcement
Various news clips of Republican "War on Drugs" campaigns including 'Just Say No'
More crew:
Cinematography by Craig Mikhitarian
Editor: Jeff Reilly
Useful website links:
Healing Place of Wake County in Raleigh,NC - http://www.hpowc.org/index.html
McShin Foundation - http://mcshinfoundation.org/
NCADD(National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.) -
http://www.ncadd.org/index.php
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
An effective and extremely personal documentary (the filmmaker is in 'AA') about the new belief that Alcoholics Anonymous and its members should come "out of the closet" en masse, in much the same way that Gay groups have outed themselves while banding together to leverage power and acceptance in equal measure!
3 stars (out of 4, MUST-SEE for AA'ers) [(2013)docu-USA/AliveMindCinema(Kino-Lorber)] - (1 hr 28 min)
Co-written & Directed by Greg D. Williams (also featured in the film)
Writers: Aaron Cohen, Bud Mikhitarian and Jeff Reilly
Featuring the following "People in Recovery":
Kristen Johnston (Author of 'Guts'/Actor on TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Chris Herren (Former NBA star, feat. on ESPN's Unguarded)
Laurie Dhue (Veteran News Anchor /TV's The Pulse)
William Cope Moyers (Author of 'Broken')
Tara Conner (Miss USA 2006)
Mercedes McCambridge (Actress, 'Giant'-1956/B&W archive clip)
Cameos (archive clips):
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)
Actor Dick Van Dyke ("Mary Poppins," many others)
Actor Dana Andrews ("Laura," many others)
Review:
If you've heard of AA or Alcoholics Anonymous, then there's a good chance you may also be acquainted with one (or more) of the over 23 million people who are in "recovery." However, that part of their lives often proves too much of a burden to share, which is why the film THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE makes the perfect icebreaker for friends & family of those in recovery.
For decades AA has a Tradition of Anonymity ... sort of. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to surmise that a group of people smoking outside a Church meeting room late in the evening are probably AA'ers and not members of the choir, but for the most part the members that attend the meetings keep the confessions, revelations, and stories to themselves.
First-time filmmaker (and long-time recovery member) Greg D. Williams decided the "secrecy" aspect of AA needed to be challenged and he was determined to film his own recovery and then many of the other people he had met along the way. Even some more famous faces that have braved the stigma appear in the film, as they have continued their public lives in open recovery thus proving there is no longer a need for secrecy.
Gay people "in the closet" had to live dual lives to keep their sexual orientation secret from the 'straight' world,especially neighbors, relatives, co-workers, etc. By coming "out" and getting married in public they shifted from a life in the shadows to one in the spotlight. Now the "Recovery World" is starting to realize that being "anonymous" isn't all it's cracked up to be and that the time has come to open up and inform the public of their existence.
And that is why THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE is important to this new generation of people in recovery who can use social media to shine light on their shadowy pasts and help others suffering in silence. The documentary will hopefully positively impact society as a whole as the stigma will be reduced and more non-recovery folk will become better informed and more empathetic. One can only imagine what it's like to try to live a sober life while turning on the TV forces one to endure beer commercials galore and the dozens of other ads for wine, liquor, the "good life," etc. beaming up at them from magazine stands & store windows.
Probably the most recognizable face of this new movement is that of Comic actress Kristen Johnston (TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun, & TV-Land's The Exes), who has opened up about her recovery on talk shows and in-person at AA-oriented seminars. Her thoughts on the "disease" are not only eloquent, but she also injects the topic with her trademark humor.
Addiction is an illness that can't be cured, but the dragon called Stigma is about to be slain once and for all. If the Gay Movement made "Silence = Death" a slogan for successful activism then "Anonymity" must be stricken from the record along with the letters "AA."
I would highly encourage anyone sympathetic to this chronic disorder and those it afflcts to see this thoughtfully presented documentary (preferably opening weekend), which outlines the history of the AA organization and it's fight for legitimacy with the government administrations of the 50's & 60's. It's been a long road traveled by millions of longtime recovering alcoholics who are making the move to end their anonymity ... to come out and be accepted for who they are.
Get informed, go see THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE, and help the People in Longterm Recovery come out once and for all.
Movie website: http://manyfaces1voice.org/#the-film
FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheAnonymousPeopleMovie
Abbreviations:
AA - Alcoholics Anonymous
Additional interviews with:
Tom Coderre (In recovery/Chief of Staff to the RI Senate Pres.)
Patrick Kennedy (In recovery/Former member of Congress)
Jim Ramstad (In recovery/Former member of Congress)
Emma Edelman (Phoenix House)
Tom Hedrick (The Partnership at DrugFree.org)
Carol McDaid (Lobbyist/Co-founder, Virginia's McShin Foundation)
John Shinholser (Co-founder, Virginia's McShin Foundation)
Bill White (Emeritus Senior Research Consultant at Chestnut Health Systems)
Clips/Archive footage:
B&W clip of AA co-founders "Bill W." (Bill Wilson) and "Dr. Bob" (Bob Wilson)
David Letterman interviews Kristen Johnston (NBC's Late Night show)
B&W Clip of Marty Mann's 1945 speech "No Stigma" (Author & founder of the National Council on Alcoholiam)
Bill O'Reilly & Matt Lauer discussing the overdone of singer Whitney Houston (NBC's Today Show)
Clint Eastwood "Anti-Crack" Public Service Announcement
Various news clips of Republican "War on Drugs" campaigns including 'Just Say No'
More crew:
Cinematography by Craig Mikhitarian
Editor: Jeff Reilly
Useful website links:
Healing Place of Wake County in Raleigh,NC - http://www.hpowc.org/index.html
McShin Foundation - http://mcshinfoundation.org/
NCADD(National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.) -
http://www.ncadd.org/index.php
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