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The Last to Know

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The groundbreaking, award winning film on alcohol, prescription drug abuse and women- the myth, the stigma, the reality. Concealed by families, protected by friends and physicians, women are kept invisible. They themselves are often The Last to Know.

This extraordinary film speaks directly to these women by sensitively focusing on four intimate stories and shows how the medical community, the media and the values of society at large, actually perpetuate alcoholism and prescription drug abuse in women.

QUOTES FROM FILM

"I used to come out of blackouts to find myself in bed with complete strangers...This was Loretta, I was brought up in Catholic schools, a lady who was now wondering what the hell had I done the night before." Loretta

"When I got sober, I got scared of people, scared to talk in front of people. When I was drunk, I could dance on top of a bar." Sharon

"I drink because I don't want to live in reality." Lori
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Streaming - 5 Years, Institutional (Education / Nonprofit) $ 99.00

License Period:  5 years
Running Time:  39:14
Video Encoding:  Medium to High Resolution


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License Period:  14 days (beginning at time of purchase)
Running Time:  39:14
Video Encoding:  Medium to High Resolution
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License Period:  21 days (beginning at time of purchase)
Running Time:  39:14
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"Acclaimed at the New York Film Festival, this gritty,intimate documentary risks inviting us into the real worlds of four addicted women, three in recovery, one still drinking and using drugs. In their own words and in their own environments, these four very different women share their struggles with a generous and uncompromising honesty rarely seen on film."
Marion Sandmeier
Alcoholism, The National Magazine

"Moving and eloquent...an eye opener, one with both a heart and a sense of humor."
Peter Stack
San Francisco Chronicle


"Unforgettable...Fascinating. A rare documentary history and profile from all walks of life who become substance abusers."
Judith Trojan
Wilson Library Journal


'Excellent...a film that asks the tough questions about alcoholism, mental health and the effect of the American culture on women's lives. The film stimulates thought and lively discussion. My students talked about for days."
Peter Dreier, Ph.D.
Occidental College

AWARDS/SCREENINGS

First Prize, American Personnel and Guidance Association

First Prize, National Council on Family Relations Film Festival

First Prize, Athens International Film Festival

Cine Golden Eagle

Silver Eye Award, Association of Media Educators in Religion

The Henry Fonda Award, River City Film Conference

Prize-International Rehabilitation Film Festival

Award, Chicago International Film Festival

Media Award-New Jersey State Task Force on Woman and Alcohol

Prize-Sinking Creek Film Festival

The Film Award-American Medical Writer's Association

New York Film Festival

Cinema du Reel, Paris

Edinburgh Film Festival

John Muir Medical Film Festival

Pacific Film Archive

President's Award Banquet Dinner, National Council on Alcoholism
Bonnie Friedman A member of New Day Films since 1974, Bonnie Friedman has been involved in the production of over 200 film and video projects. She filmed The Last to Know after researching women’s mental health issues and was shocked to find the number of women erroneously placed in mental institutions because of their alcoholism. Conducting original research and interviewing over 100 women across the country, The Last to Know was the first film to deal with the issues of alcoholism and prescription drug abuse in women and has been used to help establish the need for special women’s treatment programs. It is in the collections of over 1000 schools, universities, libraries, treatment programs, hospitals and community groups across the country and abroad. THE LAST TO KNOW was produced with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Joint Foundation Support, Bette Claire McMurray Foundation, McDonald’s Foundation, Film Fund, Playboy Foundation and several individual donors. Bonnie’s other films distributed by New Day are THE FLASHETTES, the classic, inspirational film about an inner city girls’ track team, selected for the Top Ten Film List by the American Library Association, and CHRIS AND BERNIE, made with Deborah Shaffer, the award winning film about two women who are single parents sharing childcare responsibilities.

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