East Hastings Pharmacy

In a specialised pharmacy in Vancouver, clients pass by for their dose of methadone – to be taken in front of the pharmacist. The stream of addiction-ruined faces and bodies develops into the study of a particular form of sociability. The granting of exceptional permission to take away doses opens up a negotiating space that is as dizzying as it is narrow. How can you do your job without batting an eyelid in the face of physical and mental suffering that demands more than professionalism? Inspired by the work of the artist Jeff Wall, Antoine Bourges recreates this place, which he spent a long time observing. In a building adjoining one of these dispensaries, he builds a counter where he has regular clients do improvisations – giving them the opportunity to re-enact their daily reality. The over-the-shoulder shots at the counter create a mirror effect for the furtive and repeated face-to-face encounters. This mise en scene prompts us to reflect on distance: the distance between carer and patient, which can be read on the marble face of the pharmacist (played by Shauna Hansen). But also the distance between the filmer and the filmed, which Bourges renders more complex by his convincing simulation of direct cinema.