The Decline

Documentary • R • Directed by: Kayvon Saremi & Sean Patrick Shaul • 96 minutes

Vancouver, British Columbia – home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, one of Canada’s hottest housing markets, and a garish open drug market that has existed in the city for decades. If you haven’t walked over the crosshairs of Hastings and Main Streets yourself, The Decline provides a sharp and authentic look onto the Downtown East Side that you won’t see on the news. We follow an impressive lineage of expert voices speaking directly about their lived experiences in the halls of an overdose crisis. Doctors, activists, community leaders, and user succinctly carry us through our Nation’s failure to address the state of Vancouver’s DTES, and drug policy as a whole. These voices all speak so clearly and without hesitation because: they’ve said it all before. This crisis has been building momentum and the effort has amassed an overwhelming and unified spirit of exhaustion. An earnest and uncomplicated PSA for Canadians. All of the grassroots efforts are burning out, and The Decline serves as a final siren to the folks at the top – it’s your turn to act.