NORWAY — The Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative (WMARI) has announced it will hold a free showing of the documentary film Our American Family Sept. 12 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

The film starts at 6 p.m. in the The Forum near the main entrance. It will be followed by a question-and-answer session led by one of its subjects, mother Linda Geragthy.

Our American Life, released in 2021, was produced and directed by filmmakers Hallee Adelman and Sean King O’Grady. The two spent a year documenting the lives of Geragthy, her three adult children (two of whom with substance use disorder) and husband Ryan as they grappled with generational addiction and sought healthier paths forward.

Kari Taylor, Director for Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative and The HILLS Recovery Center in Norway. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

“This film shows the experience of a family working through addiction and recovery in a powerful, intimate and unfiltered way,” Kari Taylor, director for WMARI and The HILLS Recovery Center in Norway. “It clearly portrays how addiction impacts an entire family, not just the individual who is using substances.”

After years of increasing overdoses and fatalities, Maine is one of four states in the U.S. reporting a decline last year, when the deathrate fell by about 15%. In addition to bringing treatment resources and options to people struggling with SUD, groups like WMARI are focused on family and community support programs with a mission to destigmatize the disorder as a disease that requires medical and behavioral treatment.

“There is important work to do in helping people to connect to treatment and recovery so we can build a future with fewer overdoses and more people restored to their families, lives and communities,” Taylor continued. “A vital first step towards this goal is improving our understanding of what addiction looks like and how it affects families, which Our American Family shows in a radically honest way.”

According to statistics aggregated by the filmmakers, almost 21 million Americans have some type of addiction, yet on 10% of them receive treatment. About one in 10 children have lived in households with at least one alcoholic parent and one in 35 have lived in households where at least one parent had illicit drug use disorder.

Seventy percent of people who have used an illegal drug before the age of 13 will develop SUD by the time they are 20. And 90% of adults with SUD began using drugs or alcohol when they were under the age of 18.

Free popcorn and drinks will be provided.

Please note that the film features strong language and is not recommended for young children.