Sean Dunne is a familiar name around these parts. I’ve posted a bunch of his shorts in the past (The Archive, Man in Van, The Bowler, etc.) and his last film American Juggalo (embedded at the end of this post) was a great watch and received a lot of positive attention online. I’m a fan of his work, so obviously I’m excited to see what he has in store for his first feature film, ‘Oxyana’. Here’s some info on the project:
Oceana, West Virginia, sits squarely in one of God’s blind spots. It’s one of the old coal mining communities that feeds the nations insatiable appetite for energy. Set in the middle of unbelievable natural beauty, a beauty that in the last number of years, has been marred by the Appalachian scourge of Oxycontin. Life persists, but it’s a living that few Americans could explain or even believe; closer in kind to the world of a medieval plague. Men and women die epidemically. The addicts— who are the vast majority, and all nice enough people— sell, scramble, and steal in an economy of nigh-endtimes desperation. Worn down and out by the pills, the mines, or the indignity of both, everyone is easily twice their own age, and unable to imagine an existence outside of coal, subsidies, and prescription narcotics. Things could hardly get darker— or more fucked and implausible— than in this place called Oceana.
Head on over to the film’s Kickstarter page, check out the incentives and donate! I’d love to see this film happen.
First things first.For everyones info.that has been on this so called website u really need to check in on somethings before donating any thing to help this guy with his film (oxyana documentary)second an most of all if you will look through the images he has posted you will see a lady sitting on her pourch wearing a tank top on, I assume hes using her pic.for the the film or donations really not sure n really dont care,but the thing about it is she lives in Pineville W.V not oceana or oxyana as its being called.she does not do drugs of any sort shes very fine lady an a VERY SICK LADY an yes I would know that better than anyone because shes my sister in law an has been for for almost 36 yrs.and her family was not aware of any pic.ever being taken let alone being posted on the internet under jus a website.so you ppl.out there think twice before donating any money to this cause.because the oxyana documentary from what I see on this end is nothing but a lie!!there using pictures of people that r very sick an dont look healthy an posting them as a drug user.
I have lived in Oceana almost all my life. It is a beautiful place to live and there are a lot of wonderful people that do not do drugs. However I do agree there is a drug problem here and there is a drug problem in all surrounding towns and states.
The drugs not only come from Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, etc., but they are handed out by doctors from Beckley, WV and within the county.
I feel that the filmaker needs to do a little better research and not just pick out Oceana because it is catchy to call us Oxyana. It is everywhere!
Also, we are not one of God’s blind spots.
Hey, you, for your information, God loves us all, we are not forsaken. As for Oceana, it’s not just our town, our county, our state that has drug problems, drugs are EVERYWHERE! And until a person is ready and willing to quit and get help, you can make a hundred documentaries, all they will do is give people a new topic of conversation without ever solving anything. You sit back and talk about it, complain about it, but you never want to actually DO anything to help solve the problem. SOMEBODY GET INVOLVED! TRY to help. Until this nation gets back to GOD, nothing will ever be solved. And here’s the solution: simply look up, ask for help, problem solved. He’s there.
First of all what is oxyONa? Is it his New York accent or has he never been here? The name of the town is O-C-ANA…I digress
This guy is ridiculous! He mentions coaling mining and how WV provides energy for the rest of America, then claims DRUGS are the blight on our state’s natural beauty, DRUGS are the problem that needs the spotlight. Uh what about mountain top removal buddy?! You don’t think a half blown up mountain is an eyesore? You think drugs is what sucks the life out of everything here? Well I live here and I think it’s hopelessness- most people here can’t even imagine the opportunities you have had up there in New York. If you grow up here in Wyoming county you either go to college and move to where your job is, live on a shitty minimum wage income, or go into the mines.
Speaking of the coal mines, do you think people want to work at a job where you breath in toxic, where your wife or whoever has to wonder if you’re going to come home the next morning? Where you work yourself to death destroying your own home, polluting the water, the air, everything around you? No but those are our options around here. The coal companies pay us little for what we give them, the profits they make off our backs, and the lives they steal from us.
Yes Oceana has drugs, junkies, pill-heads, pill-whores, you name it but they are FAR from the majority of us. In fact, if I was naming another problem besides the fact that there is no job market around here, it would be all the judgmental Christians. The only reason this stranger from New York is interested in our town is because he wants to make fun of us, just like the White family movies. If he really wanted to help the people in our community, as he claims, he could shine his spotlight on countless other issues (like that damn coalfield expressway and why it hasn’t made it’s way here or maybe our broken educational system). He could take that 50 grand he is raising and invest it in a local business, employee some of our people who desperately need jobs. No he is showing the druggies because they are what is selling right now and it is wrong to profit off of the miseries of other people.
The true majority of people in our county aren’t consumed by drugs as this man would have you believe. Mostly they are bright people who haven’t received the education they deserve, or people who have to take care of their grandparents, or people who have to raise their kids. People, we are people, even the druggies, and its not right for the rest of American to turn us in to the butt of their joke. We aren’t perfect, we have good and bad, but there are people from this area who are truly trying to better the area. And if this fellow thinks he can come down here and understand our culture in a few months or if he thinks it would take 50 grand to make a movie down here, he is the joke.
My name is Audrey Brooks and I work at Goodsons Supermarket in Oceana (A locally started and owned business)- my parents work there as well- and I challenge this man to come interview my coworkers and I at the store and see how many of us are on drugs. Come visit us and we will show you how WV really is, and yes there are probably even a few druggies that come in the store we could point out to you if that’s all you want to see
I was born and raised in Oceana. I grew up in this small town, like lots of people do, along with my 17 siblings (that’s right – my parents had 18 children). This town was a wonderful place to live as a child; unfortunately, I did end up on drugs and was placed in a correction center throughout my early teens. Fortunately, I grew up, got off the drugs and am now an honest, dependable, tax-paying citizen.
I’ve seen both sides of the fence throughout my years, and still have relatives who are fighting the battle with drug addiction. I hope this young man raises the funding in order to develop this documentary. This is an epidemic in America, not just Oceana; consequently, the light has to be turned on somewhere. If he can bring light to this situation, why would anyone be against it?
I do share some of the same opinions as the other bloggers here – often, WV residents are portrayed in a negative way. All West Virginians are not toothless, uneducated drug addicts who marry their kin people! In addition, God is the answer for all things… not just drug problems. Everyone in the world should turn to God.
In conclusion, I support this project, as long as the focus is on the Epidemic of Drug Addiction Across America.
I have lived in or near Oceana all my life, worked in Oceana for years, Proud to be from Oceana, but you can not deny that drugs are a problem in our little town. It’s true that it’s not just confined to our town but it is county, state and nationwide as well. I however support this documentary if it will shed some light and help rid our area of these drugs. Our town has been dubbed Oxyana for some time now, years as a matter of fact. This documentary is not bringing that name upon our community, our very own citizens are responsible for that. I hope this film brings knowledge of this epidemic and helps bring forth a solution. Sitting back and complaining about the problem isn’t going to help the problem our town has. The drug abuse is growing, and our young people are growing up in the middle of it and that then becomes a normal life style, so that when they themselves are older, they end up on welfare because that is all they know, or is a means to obtain their drugs. You are blind to it if you think they do not trade their foodstamps for drugs, or for money to buy their drugs. I do not want to see my nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors kids end up like this. I want more for their future. I have seen so many that has turned to drugs, family members on drugs….this is happening and growing in Oceana and surrounding area. Why would you not want to see a light shed on this. Maybe it will bring forth tougher laws, expose those that are furnishing the drugs, and save our children. I for one am tired of going out to eat with my family and having the druggies and pill whores meet you at the door begging for money or trying to come up with some lame excuse as to why they need money, which we all know is a lie because we all know who these people are and what they want with the money. I am tired and ashamed of hearing family members who visit from out of state say to me “Do you know what that women just said she would do to me for $20.” That is embarrassing, not only to myself, my family, but to my relatives visiting from out of state. This is the story that goes back with them, oh they can tell of the good times, but the story of drugs and pill whores are the ones that people remember and refer to when talking about our little town. I want my good town back. We have good people here. It could once again be the Oceana we all knew as kids, but our kids will never know that if something isn’t done. Mountaintop removal,lack of jobs, education, economical growth, and yes even hypocrites are a problem here as well….but Oceana has a drug problem……Wyoming County has a drug problem…….West Virginia has a drug problem…….United States of America has a drug problem. We need to focus on our neck of the woods and get it cleaned up. Yes there are good people hooked on drugs, but that will not save their life….getting the drugs out of their life and out of our county and state is what will ultimately save them. Let this documentary shed light on the problem that already exists so that our County officials will step up and rid our hometown and county of this problem, and if they don’t, maybe it will bring new officials that are ready to make a change and clean our town up, so that our kids and grandkids have a safe place to grow up, and neighbors aren’t stealing off of neighbors to get their next fix, and people aren’t just willing to make welfare a way of life. Aren’t you tired of hearing of another overdose in our area….and let me remind you, that those who are now overdosing were just years before the little ones you seen playing ball or riding bikes in the street. It is taking our children, our family and friends and destroying them. I’m ready for a change. I again say that I support this documentary, it isn’t bringing shame on Oceana, drugs have been doing that for years……