Film phase:Completed
SYNOPSIS
In the heart of America’s opioid epidemic, four men attempt to reinvent their lives and mend broken relationships after years of drug abuse. Recovery Boys, directed by Academy Award® nominee Elaine McMillion Sheldon, is an intimate look at the strength, brotherhood, and courage required to overcome addictionThe film exposes the internal struggles of recovery and the effort to break the cycle of generational addiction and trauma. The young men let go of painful pasts to live in the present and create a new community through farming-based rehabilitation. After rehab, they face life’s challenges sober but struggle to find their place and purpose in an often unforgiving society. In today’s world where the opioid crisis dominates headlines, Recovery Boys gives a deeply personal look into the unseen lives of those working toward transformation.
Recovery Boys was supported through Elaine McMillion Sheldon‘s 2016 Chicken & Egg Award.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Elaine McMillion Sheldon (she/her) is an Academy Award®-nominated and Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker. She has been nominated for six Emmy® awards, and is a 2021 Creative Capital Awardee, a 2021 Livingston Award Finalist, and a 2020 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Kristi Jacobson (she/her) is an Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker based in New York and founder of Catalyst FIlms. Hers films capture nuanced, intimate, and provocative portrayals of individuals and communities. They have premiered at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, been released in theaters worldwide, and screened on platforms including Netflix, HBO, ESPN, PBS, ABC, CBS, and Discovery.