A hip hop song and short film depicting the impacts of ice addiction hope to provide more insight and education on the destructive drug.
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Film and music production crew Indigenous Hip Hop Projects has spent the week working with the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative and members of the Koori community to put together the state government-funded projects.
Ballarat artist Josh Muir has written the dialogue for the short film, while Zane Pfeiffer and Thilylyaana Jones, who are both involved with BADAC, put their hands up to be actors in the film.
Pfeiffer said he wanted to become involved in the ice education project after having a “really bad past” where he struggled on the drug.
“I’ve come out the other side and BADAC has helped me a lot,” he said.
“I wanted to take this chance to help the community, because it’s a big message but a good message.
“It does really rip you apart, I’ve been through a lot on it, so I would like to get my story out there in a way and do my part to help out.”
Jones said the drug was not only a big issue in Ballarat but nationwide and believed the film would benefit the community.
“We want to raise awareness of how bad ice is doing in the community and how bad it can get,” she said.
“And we want to show them there is help for it… just show a bit of support for the people who feel they are alone and can’t overcome it.”
Filmmaker Britten Andrews said the short film would be visually powerful and more relatable for an ice user than a commercial commissioned for the entire state or country.
“This is real people in a real place with a real story behind it, so there really is this human element to it,” Andrews said.
“You see the faces and it’s an emotional ride where it talks about the journey and what you go through.
“And these guys have captured all those emotions, feelings of depression or paranoia to feelings of extreme highness.”
There will be a special screening of the song and film at a launch event on Friday at Khub, 403 Main Road in Ballarat, from 4.30pm.
Both the song and short film will then be distributed to Indigenous networks nationwide and shared on YouTube after the screening.