‘Union County’ film casts a new light on addiction recovery and rural Ohio

Today from the Ohio Newsroom, an Ohio drug court takes the screen. Support comes from the James at Ohio State, cancer. For some, it's one of life's fiercest foes, but not at the James, where a team of nearly 300 specialists and over 1,500 researchers are working together to create a cancer-free world. Support comes from Ohio Casa. Ohio Casa's mission is to ensure children experiencing abuse and neglect have a caring, trained adult in their corner. Information about CASA volunteer work is at Ohio C-A-S-A.org. I'm Erin Gotzacker. Many films have set out to capture the crisis of drug or alcohol addiction, but far fewer have focused on the long, uneven process of recovery. A filmmaker with Ohio ties has turned his lens on that often overlooked journey. The Ohio Newsroom's Kendall Crawford reports. For the last decade, the adult recovery court in Bell Fountain has met every Monday to aid people with addiction who are coming out the criminal justice system. The court helps them find jobs, housing, and transportation. Logan County Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Bragg says it's not exactly cinematic. Nothing's blowing up and nobody's rescuing anybody. And yet, earlier this winter, Reg watched his program and himself on the silver screen at the Sundance Film Festival. So today is Cody's first day, so let's all make sure that we give him a nice warm welcome. In the film, Union County, Cody Parsons is navigating drug court for the first time. I'm Cody and I'm an addict. Hi, Cody. I've been addicted to opiate since I was 17. The story follows Cody and his brother as they work toward recovery. And while they are fictional creations, played by Will Poulter and Noah Centenio, respectively, their stories are interwoven with documentary footage of Bregg's drug court, where real participants share weekly dispatches on getting sober. I got a spin. Saturday and Sunday with my family. I got to see my kids, and they were really excited. And so I did like a little treasure hunt for my kids for them to find their Easter baskets. And I made him follow the eggs. Director Adam Meeks created the splend of documentary and fiction after visiting family in Central Ohio and watching a drug court meeting for the first time. I was just completely blown away by the like empathy and humanity in that room and this kind of community. showing up for itself. So he spent years getting to know them and the people running the drug court, like court administrator Annette Dio. She plays herself in the movie, fighting tirelessly to counsel the brothers through relapse. I'm going to do everything I can for you and for Jack to help you guys get through this. Dio just happened to have four years of theater school under her belt. But the role wasn't exactly a stretch. Cody's story closely reflects the experience of the people she works with every day. It shows so much dignity for the people in recovery. You know, one of the things I worked in with my career is...

Really working against the stigma of someone with a substance of use disorder is a bad person. And they're not. They have a bad problem. Rather than dwelling on people's mistakes, the movie lingers on mundane moments. Cleaning up balloons after the program's graduation ceremony, performing drug tests in front of court personnel. Meek says its pace mirrors the journey of recovery. Like that's also the thing that... the character's up against when trying to figure out how to like fill the time and their life and find a certain kind of day-to-day moment-to-moment fulfillment without using. Meek's hopes that this intimate portrayal can shift people's perception of rural Ohio from bleak to blossoming. This is also about pointing the camera towards a place that I thought was kind of underappreciated or like misrepresented and being like, look how beautiful this is. Judge Breg says the fact that people care enough to set up cameras in his courtroom at all has already inspired hope for his participants. He started to use the film as an example of the joys that can come from sober life. If you just show up every day and do what you're supposed to do, something good will find you. And it might even be a movie star. The film is playing in theaters starting today. But for members of Bregg's Court and many like it across the state and the country, there's a sequel every week. For the Ohio Newsroom, I'm Kendall Crawford. That's all today from the Ohio Newsroom. We'll talk with you on Monday.