Film Release: 'Deadly Medicine'
9 January 2015
‘Deadly Medicine’, a short documentary about pharmaceutical drug abuse in India by visual journalists Vikram Singh and Enrico Fabian, has been released online. The film was shot for Al Jazeera’s online channel AJ+.
The two filmmakers spent time with prescription drug users to document the devastating toll that the unchecked sale of prescription medication has taken in India.
Singh and Fabian collaborated with German musician and composer Martin Gehrmann, who is part of the bands erso.sieso and 4.og. While Gehrmann created the theme music for the film (including an adapted version of the 4.og track ‘Amina’); ‘Deadly Medicine’ also features the track ‘Ganapati’ from Indo-French band Tritha Electric.
Speaking of the soundtrack Singh, the director, said “Music is incredibly important to our film. Not only is it essential to the atmosphere we’re trying to create, but even the edit is calibrated in tune with the music, so it really dictates the pace of the film. We’re really lucky to have had the chance to work with Martin and Tritha Electric on this project, and hope to collaborate with other musicians for upcoming projects’”
‘Toxic Legacy’, Singh and Fabian’s first film for AJ+, also incorporated music by Gehrmann, as well as Lifafa’s ‘Tofah’ (from the EP 'In Hi Ko'). You can watch the film here.
The informative, succinct documentary details how India is the world’s third highest pharma drug manufacturer (by volume) producing a staggering $12 billion worth of drugs yearly. However the lack of regulation has seen a massive spike in pharmaceutical drug abuse (opiates, sedatives and amphetamines). In fact many users are switching from heroin to prescription drug cocktails (which are cheaper and more easily available).
The film is eye opening and well worth your time. Watch it below.
Words: Aditya Keswani