All language subtitles for All.the.Beauty.and.the.Bloodshed.2022.PROPER.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

-Person 1: Do you need bottles?
-Person 2: I have bottles.

(indistinct chatter)

Person 1:
Does anyone need--
You need bottles?

Do you have?

Nan Goldin:
What time? 4:15?

Person 3:
The timekeepers are
going to give the signal.

Nan: Okay.

Okay. Everyone has bottles?

-You okay?
-Person 4: You ready to go in?

Let's go.

(indistinct chatter)

Nan:
There's a guard walking around
looking puzzled.

I think he's trying to count
the number of people.

I'm really nervous, man.

-Let's start.
-Yes, let's do it, go.

Nan:
Mic check.

Group:
Mic check!

-Nan: Mic check.
-Group: Mic check!

A hundred thousand dead.

Group:
A hundred thousand dead!

-A hundred thousand dead!
-Group: A hundred thousand dead!

Don't do anything. You can't do
anything as far as--

Nan:
Temple of death.

Group:
Temple of death!

Temple of money.

Group:
Temple of money!

Nan:
Temple of greed.

Group:
Temple of greed!

Nan:
Temple of Oxy.

Group:
Temple of Oxy!

Nan:
Sacklers lie.

Group:
Sacklers lie!

Nan:
Thousands die.

Group:
Thousands die!

Nan:
The Sacklers knew...

Group:
The Sacklers knew...

...their pills would kill.

Group:
...their pills would kill!

Person 1:
They built this wing!

Person 2:
They killed this space!

Take this outside.

(indistinct chatter)

(cheering and applause)

Sacklers lie!

Group:
People die!

Sacklers lie!

Group:
People die!

-Protester: Sacklers lie!
-Group: People die!

-Protester:
Sacklers lie!
-Group: People die!

-Protester: Sacklers lie!
-Group: People die!

Protester:
Sacklers lie and people die!

("The Cold Song"
by Klaus Nomi playing)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ What power art thou? ♪

♪ Who from below... ♪

Nan:
It's easy to make
your life into stories.

But it's harder to...

sustain real memories.

Laura Poitras:
What do you mean?

Nan:
Well, the difference
between the story

and the real memory.

The real experience
has a smell and is dirty

and is not wrapped up in...

simple endings.

The real memories

are what affects me now.

Things can appear that
you didn't want to see,

where you're not safe.

And even if you don't actually

unleash the memories,
the effect is there.

It's in your body.

(wind howling)

Person: Alright.

(opera aria "Norma: Casta Diva"
playing)

♪ ♪

(song fades out)

Nan:
It was a claustrophobic suburb.

" Don't let
the neighbors know."

My mother used to say that
all the time.

It wasn't just an attitude.

Actually,
the neighbors did know,

we found out years later,

'cause there was
so much screaming

in the house.

Laura:
Tell me about your sister.

(projector clicking)

Nan:
My mother insisted

that Barbara speak
in full sentences

at the age of one.

And so she stopped talking
for at least a year and a half.

Yeah, that was the first act
of rebellion by my sister.

She would just wash my hair
or hold me

or these kind of things
that you need

when you're a kid.

And she knew
how to do that,

even though
she hadn't been mothered

in that way.

She made me aware
at a very young age

about the banality and
deadening grip of suburbia.

She had a wildness to her.

She played
the piano constantly.

Chopin,

Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky...

And you could tell
how she was feeling

by how she was playing.

The parakeets would sit
on her shoulders

while she played.

She trusted me
with all her secrets.

She went on Saturday nights
to the movies

to make out with boys.

That was when
she stood up for herself

and yelled back.

And she talked to me
about feelings

for other girls.

It was a period
of sexual repression.

And she was made
to fear her sexuality.

And a lot of it
was her need to be held.

She had a saying:
"Lean cat, savage cat."

I felt very close to her.

But she was in and out
of institutions

for most of my childhood.

Once they started
sending her away,

they kept sending her away.

My parents took away
her credibility and...

silenced her by calling her
"mentally ill."

The police came
into the house.

My father started wailing
on the front lawn.

Wailing.

They were talking
to my mother, saying that

"We found your daughter,
and she committed suicide."

And I heard my mother say,

"Tell the children
it was an accident."

My interpretation
from that minute was...

denial.

She didn't want us
to know the truth.

That's when it clicked.

(indistinct chatter)

Nan:
Okay, let's try it
towards the left.

-Yeah.
-Or, like, in the middle?

I don't know.

Can you move over
to the right?

Keep going. Okay.

I can't really see
because your body--

Thank you.

Wow.

Do you like it?

Okay, I just want to see
one more thing.

Can you switch these two?

Okay. And one more idea.

A couple more ideas.

I could do this all night.

(chuckles) Watch out.

Yeah.

I was thinking about this
last night that...

people talk about all kinds
of relationships

with their partner,

their children,
their parents and...

the relationships
that have mattered most to me,

probably my whole life,
are my friends.

I, I only escaped
because of my friends.

Right.

Yeah, that's better.
That's perfect.

(pensive music playing)

Nan:
"I survived the opioid crisis.

"I narrowly escaped.

"My relationship
to OxyContin

"began several years ago
in Berlin.

"It was originally
prescribed for surgery.

"Though I took it as directed,
I got addicted overnight.

"In the beginning,
40 milligrams was too strong.

"But as my habit grew,
there was never enough.

"I went from three pills a day,
as prescribed, to 18.

"The drug, like all drugs,
lost its effect.

"So I picked up the straw.

"My life revolved entirely

"around getting
and using Oxy.

"Counting and recounting,
crushing and snorting

"was my full-time job.

"When I got out of treatment,

"I learned that
the Sackler family,

"whose name I knew
from museums and galleries,

"were responsible
for the epidemic.

"The Sackler family
and their private company,

"Purdue Pharma,
advertised and distributed

"their medication
knowing all the dangers.

"I've started
a group, P.A.I.N.,

"to hold them accountable.

"To get their ear, we will
target their philanthropy.

"They have washed their
blood money through the halls

of museums and universities
around the world."

David Velasco:
I had no idea that it was going

to actually have
the traction that it did.

It's definitely among the,
if not the most,

uh, proud moments
of my tenure

as editor of the magazine.

She knew how to use her power.
These are--

You know, she's a figure
that these museums

also wanted to work with,

they want
in their collections.

She's a-- um, a major name
in the art world.

When she published
the portfolio that--

it was the fact that she was
doing it that mattered.

You know, I knew this would
put her on the line

in a real serious way and, um,

I was concerned for her safety.

Um, I was concerned for, um,

you know,
whether she would be

drummed out of the art world,
you know.

I mean, I think that, uh,

she was taking on
a very powerful family,

one of
the most powerful families.

Nan:
I mean, if anyone belongs
in jail, it's these people.

-Yes.
- Yeah, of course.

And as long
as there's a jail,

they should be in it...

(laughter)

...until the whole
prison system is dismantled.

They should be
the last to leave.

Group Member:
Yeah. (laughing)

-Last one, lights out.
-Last one. Yeah. (laughing)

After I met Nan
and we connected

on, like, levels of...

you know, having, uh,
experience with addiction

and stuff like that,

she said,
"Why don't you come

to one of
our P.A.I.N. meetings?"

Most members
of P.A.I.N. have

a direct experience
with addiction

or loss of a loved one.

We have members
who lost their children,

um, to overdose,

that have family members
who are struggling,

or that they themselves
have struggled.

- You're right.
-Yeah, but death is
the bottom line of this,

and that should be reminded.

We should do a die-in
of some sort.

Group Member:
Do we want to marshal numbers?

-But each of us will
be then responsible, like the--
-Trusted friends.

Marina Berio:
The focus on the family?

I would say there--

there was a little bit
of fear in the group

about, like, going
straight for them,

although we felt
that we should.

Yeah, this is
the decisive one.

Noemi Bonazzi:
Nan actually said,

"Do you think
my career will implode?"

And I said, "Probably."

And I said,
"Yes, that's very--

"these are very scary,
powerful people.

But then again,
what else can you do?"

And, and she said,
"I think we should

take these people down."

And I said,
"Well, I'm, I'm with you."

And then we started meeting
and we would sit in Nan's house

and dream up of, of,
of things we wanted to do.

Group Member:
He's really sweet.

Nan:
He's sweet on Alex, man.

Go on.

Patrick Radden Keefe:
Let's see where
it all starts here.

I mean, there's literally
so many of these

that it's hard for me to find.

Yes, this is September 2019.

I get this legal hold notice.

"Dear Mr. Keefe, I write
on behalf of my clients,

"members of
the Raymond Sackler family.

"You are hereby directed
to preserve

"and not to destroy,
conceal, or alter

"any and all documents
and communications

"in your possession
that relate in any way

"to any members
of the Sackler family,

"the article, Purdue Pharma,
and/or OxyContin..."

And on and on and on.

One of the things
that's so strange

about the Sackler family
is that

we talk about them
in monolithic terms,

but really
it's three families and...

they spring from these
three original brothers,

Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond.

Narrator:
His name is Arthur Sackler.

For 40 years,
he has brought energy,

goodwill,
and intelligence to art.

He owns thousands of works,

presently displayed not only
at the Metropolitan Museum,

but in university collections
as well.

(applause)

Knowing that
the goal of peace

is engraved
in your hearts,

Mrs. Sackler and I present
to you this verse...

Patrick:
Arthur dies before
the introduction of OxyContin.

And yet so much
of what's happened

is, in part, a function
of Arthur's legacy.

His contemporaries knew him

as this kind of
great art collector

and this philanthropist.

And the dirty secret was that

he had come to this position
of prominence and great wealth

through the marketing
of this drug,

which also happened
to be quite addictive.

He creates

a whole means
of selling Valium

in which
you're targeting doctors.

He devised
a compensation scheme

in which he would get paid
a series of escalating bonuses

based on how much Valium
they sold.

Well, Valium becomes
the best-selling drug

in the history of
the pharmaceutical industry.

Narrator:
From his personal collection,

Sackler gave the Smithsonian
carte blanche

to select a thousand pieces,

the best from
a lifetime of collecting.

Patrick:
The whole Sackler enterprise

has been about marketing,
the marketing of OxyContin,

but also the marketing
of the family name.

There's the family
of the art world

and the museum world
and philanthropy.

And then there's
the kind of grubby,

unpleasant story of...

big pharma marketing
and addiction and death.

Don't be afraid
to take what they give you.

Often, it will be
an opioid medication.

Some patients may be afraid
of taking opioids

because they're perceived
as too strong, or addictive.

But that is far
from actual fact.

Patrick:
The Sacklers owned Purdue,

this company that set out
very deliberately

to change the way in which

these strong opioids
were prescribed

and to do so by claiming
that they weren't addictive.

A week or two
after my article came out,

I get this email,
this kind of cryptic email

from the studio
of Nan Goldin that said,

"The photographer Nan Goldin
would like to meet with you."

And I was a little mystified,
didn't know what it was about.

But we, we set up a meeting.

She had this kind of
"Roll up your sleeves.

"We gotta do something!
We gotta organize!

We gotta get out there!"

And I, I probably was--

I mean, I blush to think,
but I probably was sort of

gently patronizing and said,
"Well, good for you,"

you know, "Glad to hear it.
You keep me posted on that."

Nan:
I love working
in a material I know.

-Blue Valium bottles.
-(laughter)

Nan:
My anger at the Sackler family,

it's personal.

I, I hate these people.

But it's not about
my own addiction.

I mean, when you think of
the profit off people's pain,

you can only be furious
about it.

Protester:
Sacklers lie, people die.

Fund harm reduction now!

Group:
Sacklers lie, people die.

Fund harm reduction now!

Sacklers lie, people die!

Fund harm reduction now!

Group:
Sacklers lie, people die.

Fund harm reduction now.

Noemi:
We consciously talked
about Act Up

and what Act Up had done.

And how we wanted,

uh, for these actions
to make an impact.

This idea of a bottle was
the first object we created.

Nan:
All the museums, institutions

need to stop taking money

from these corrupt,
evil bastards.

(cheering and applause)

(projector clicking)

Nan:
I got thrown out
of every school

and every house that I lived.

I got thrown out
of my parents' home.

I got thrown out
of my foster family.

I got thrown out of
the communal foster family.

-Laura: Seriously?
-Nan: Yeah.

There's not one
I can think of that--

Yeah, I made an art of it.

Laura:
Okay, but why were you
with foster parents?

Nan:
A psychiatrist told my father

that if I stayed in the house,

the same thing would happen
as what happened with Barbara.

So my parents sent me
to a foster agency.

It was the Jewish
adoption agency

on Beacon Hill.

Yeah.

I must have been 14.

The woman of the house
straightened my hair.

She wanted me to be
a WASP basically.

I remember when
I first went there,

I projectile vomited
all over my room.

I must have been terrified.

I didn't remember that
till now.

I landed in a hippie
free school

that couldn't throw me out.

Satya School saved my life.

I was shy
beyond social phobia,

like crippling shyness.

There were, like, six months
that I didn't speak at all.

I think my sister's suicide
had silenced me.

Until I met David.

He said I was still
speaking in a whisper.

I was 15. He was 14.

("All Tomorrow's Parties" by
The Velvet Underground playing)

He was a vision to me.

♪ ♪

(song stops, projector clicks)

We met each other,
both stealing steaks.

We were shoplifting.

Both of us converged
in the steak department.

-Laura: Are you serious?
-Nan: Yeah.

Oh, I, I was
a great shoplifter

pretty much all my life.

I'm not sure how good
I am anymore,

but that's how
we became friends.

David was a great wit.

Very ironic, very precise.

And that was
the coin of the realm.

He taught me to use humor
as a survival mechanism.

He had this elegance,
and he was very androgynous,

which was something
I was really attracted to.

And one night, we hitchhiked
to my brother's dorm,

'cause I was between homes,

and he laid down on the bed
and I laid down next to him.

And he got up
and laid down on the floor.

And I said, "Are you gay?"

And a light came on for him.

He always said that it was

the first time
somebody recognized him.

Then he named me Nan.

So I brought him out,
and he named me Nan.

So we liberated each other.

David was the eye of my storm.

David and Tommy in a sandpit.

That's one of
my first photographs.

We all got cameras
from Polaroid.

I attached to it more than
anybody else at the school.

It was the only language
I spoke at the time.

Suddenly I had,
you know, a personality.

And it gave me a voice.

Photography was always
a way to walk through fear.

Taking a picture
is kind of protective.

It gave me
a reason to be there.

("Cheree" by Suicide playing)

♪ ♪

David was living with
this most beautiful queen

in Cambridge .

Very quickly,
I moved in with them.

♪ Cheree, Cheree ♪

♪ Oh, baby... ♪

Nan:
We went to Goodwill
pretty much every day.

All the rich women were giving
their clothes to Goodwill,

and they were
exquisite clothes.

♪ I love you ♪

Nan:
Like Fortuny gowns.

♪ Cheree, Cheree ♪

Nan:
And we went to
The Other Side every night.

Right away,
I felt at home there.

♪ Oh, I love you ♪

Nan:
I remember being really excited
to take pictures at that time.

(song fades out)

It was like a flash
of euphoria.

I know when,
you know, a picture works.

I get a rush.

I would have the film developed
in a pharmacy,

and each of them would make

a pile of the pictures
of themselves

and compete to see
who had the biggest pile.

If they didn't like
one of the pictures,

they tore them up,
and that was okay with me.

I've always wanted
the people in the pictures

to be proud
of being in the work.

People have said,
"Oh, I didn't know
I was that beautiful."

Which is, you know,
what I want them to feel.

My roommates,

they were running away
from America,

and they found each other.

They didn't think,
"We're pioneers."

You know, "We're rebels."

They just were.

It was about living out
what they needed to live out

in spite of the reaction
from the outside world.

("What Makes a Man"
by Charles Aznavour playing)

♪ There's always those
to spoil our games ♪

♪ By finding fault
and calling names ♪

♪ Always accusing ♪

♪ We love each other
but it seems ♪

♪ The love lives only
in my dreams ♪

♪ It's so one-sided ♪

♪ But in this life
I must confess ♪

♪ The search for love
and happiness ♪

♪ Is unrequited ♪

♪ I ask myself
what have I got ♪

♪ And what I am
and what I'm not ♪

♪ What am I giving? ♪

♪ Then answers come
from those who make ♪

♪ The rules that some
of us must break ♪

♪ Just to keep living ♪

♪ I know my life
is not a crime ♪

♪ I'm just a victim
of my time ♪

♪ I stand defenseless ♪

♪ Nobody has
the right to be ♪

♪ The judge of what
is right for me ♪

♪ Tell me if you can ♪

♪ What makes a man ♪

♪ A man? ♪

Nan:
While I was living
with the queens,

I started going to art school

for photography.

Said I wanted the queens
to be on the cover of "Vogue."

But in those days,
that was so far.

It was a time that was
really scary for them.

You could get arrested walking
down the street in Boston.

My roommates
stayed home basically,

and they went out at night.

And...

survival was an art.

David and I started going
to Provincetown in '75.

It was the gay mecca.

I worked in a Portuguese
hot dog stand.

And then later,
I got a job as a bartender

at The Pied Piper,
the lesbian bar.

I was living in this
separatist lesbian community.

You know, it was sort of like

flannel shirts and tea.

You know, and I'd come from
taffeta gowns and Quaaludes.

And so, you know,
I was kind of the oddball

'cause I would wear pearls
and lipstick to the beach.

I fell in love
with this beautiful woman.

We were lovers, briefly.

She had lots of other lovers.

I was obsessed with her.

So I photographed her
constantly.

I have often used photography
as a sublimation for sex.

It's generally better
than sex.

(chuckles)

I had a button machine.

You know, you take a picture
and put it on a button.

-Laura: You had
a button machine?
-Nan: Yeah.

That was my way
of making a living.

Walking up and down
Commercial Street

in my high heels
with my button machine,

and Cookie and Sharon
and Divine

and John Waters came by
and had buttons made.

I knew Cookie
from John Waters' films,

and I already idolized her.

♪ I got lots of problems ♪

♪ Female Trouble ♪

♪ Maybe I'm twisted ♪

I'd like to set fire
to this dump.

Just 'cause we're pretty,
everybody's jealous.

It's like a prison here.

Even at Christmas,
it's like a prison.

("Sunday Morning" by Nico and
The Velvet Underground playing)

♪ Sunday morning ♪

♪ Brings the dawning ♪

Nan:
I mean, Cookie was
all about finding

what was funny in life.

♪ ...by my side ♪

Nan:
Cookie and Sharon were
together for many years.

Sharon was working
at a pizza place,

and Cookie came by one night

with her bicycle
and her son, Max.

And he had long hair
with gum

and Popsicle sticks
and leaves in it.

♪ ...the world's
behind you ♪

Nan:
And Cookie had on these
little Springolator pumps,

but they were held together

with safety pins.

And Sharon thought,

"I'm gonna take care
of these people."

♪ Sunday morning ♪

Nan:
And then Cookie said to her,

"I believe in timing."

♪ I've got a feeling ♪

Nan:
Cookie took Sharon
home with her

through a swamp
with big pussy willows.

And that was the beginning
of Cookie and Sharon.

♪ Sunday morning... ♪

Nan:
It was a time of freedom
and possibility.

That's when I did
my first slideshows.

You ready?

Does everyone have
their chant?

"That's bullshit, get off it.

They made addicts
just for profit."

-Ooh!
-We were re--

We were flying last night!

(indistinct chatter)

Megan Kapler:
We were ready to do
another New York action,

and the Met
and the Guggenheim
to us are like

two of the most
important museums.

And we knew that
the Guggenheim had

the Sackler Education Center.

So they were like
a big target for us.

An important part
of the museums we choose is

Nan is typically
in the permanent collection.

It's much stronger
when the message

is coming from
inside the house.

-Person 1: I'm not worried.
-What if they recognize me?

-Somebody?
-Person 2: They're not.

Nan:
By the time we did
the Guggenheim,

our name was out there.

Other museums were alerted
that we might be coming.

It's just,
I'm supposed to wear it

so that no one knows
who I am.

(laughter)

Person 1:
That's not drawing
attention to yourself.

Person 2:
Very-- very subtle disguise.

Uh, I don't know.

It calls a little attention,
doesn't it?

-It's kind of horrible.
-Person 3: Thank you.

Megan:
The attorney general
in Massachusetts

had just released
internal emails

and documents of
the Sacklers which were vast,

and had really damning quotes.

One of them was the quote
from Richard Sackler

saying that

upon the launch
of OxyContin in 1996,

that OxyContin
would cover the country

in a "blizzard
of prescriptions."

I, I just was like,

"What if we made a bunch
of prescriptions

and throw that back
in their faces?"

Megan:
We're trying
to align the banners

with the fountain right
at the bottom of the spiral?

-Harry Cullen: Yes.
-Megan: Okay.

Okay, "Shame on Sacklers,"
right?

Harry: Yeah.

Nan:
The goal is to get
the names off the walls.

As long as
the names are there,

they still maintain their hold
on their reputation.

They're still whitewashing
their reputation.

The museums are still
complicit in that.

Harry:
The energy
was definitely right.

The whole museum was already
buzzing when we went in.

Um, it was
a packed Saturday night.

-Megan: Nan, are you ready?
-No, where is everyone?

We had a Signal thread,
but it was really like,

"Go at this time.

"If you see
prescriptions falling,

it's starting."

-Megan: Are we ready?
-Nan: Yeah.

(crowd cheering)

Megan:
I was at the bottom looking up,

and I checked out for a minute

because I was looking up
at the prescription slips

and just, like, in awe
of the visual that it created.

(crowd cheering, applauding)

Yeah!

Group:
Say it loud, say it clear,

Sackler name
not welcome here!

Say it loud, say it clear,
Sackler name not welcome here!

Say it loud, say it clear,
OxyContin got them here!

Say it loud...

Marina:
I was holding
one of the banners.

We looked like we're hundreds
and hundreds

of activists, right?

We were not hundreds
and hundreds.

People are shouting with us.
They're agreeing with us.

-Protester: No longer!
-Group: No longer!

-Protester:
No longer!
-Group: No longer!

-Protester: No longer!
-Group: No longer!

The Sackler family must go!

Group:
The Sackler family must go!

The Sackler family must pay!

Group:
The Sackler family must pay!

Group: (chanting)
People die! Sacklers lie!

Group:
People die! Sacklers lie!

Group:
People die!

(chanting continues)

Group: (chanting)
Say it loud, say it clear,

Sacklers are not welcome here!

Say it loud, say it clear,

Sacklers are not welcome here!

We have journeyed from
the Guggenheim down to the Met

to send a message,

a message of life and death.

My son was prescribed OxyContin

for a knee surgery
in high school.

The doctors told him,
"Take the pills

every four hours."

"Take them before
the pain starts.

Take them on schedule."

When my son talked
of his pain,

I said,
"Did you take your pill?"

I became an accomplice
to my son's demise.

-That ain't right.
-Alexis Pleus: That's not right.

Group:
That ain't right!
That's not right!

My son became addicted
to OxyContin.

It progressed to heroin.

It took 11 years.
But it fuckin' killed him!

It killed him.
It took his life.

He died alone in a bathroom.

I don't expect the Sacklers
to care about my son Jeff.

Nan:
We care!

But 400,000 lives, right?

Somebody should care
about that!

Person: Yes!

(group cheering, applauding)

Laura:
And how did
the Guggenheim respond?

Nan:
They didn't say anything.

The museums were keeping quiet.

The first year, it's like

25 museums were supportive
of the Sacklers.

Either said nothing
or were supportive.

They know the Sacklers
are a bad look...

for their PR.

Laura:
Right.

Nan:
But they're terrified

of what will be
found out about them.

The rich people are scared
that we're going to dig into

the evil way they made money.

(projector clicking)

♪ Oh yeah, I had to lay
such a tender trap ♪

♪ Hoping you might
fall into it ♪

♪ But love hit me
like a sudden slap ♪

♪ One kiss
and then I knew it ♪

♪ What's this whole world
comin' to ♪

♪ Things just ain't the same ♪

♪ Anytime the hunter ♪

♪ Gets captured
by the game ♪

♪ Oh yeah ♪

Nan:
I moved to the Bowery in '78.

This place that
should have become a museum.

So many people lived there,

and it was one
of the big addresses

in lower New York
at the time.

It was a shithole loft
because there was no light.

It didn't have any walls
for a while.

Kind of dysfunctional
but managed to function.

We used to fuck
in the elevator.

There was a lot of drugs.

Always a lot of drugs,
a lot of coke, a lot of speed.

The Bowery was the Ballad.

The Bowery was
the golden headquarters.

And that's where I was
situated in the universe,

was the Bowery.

♪ Oh yeah ♪

Nan:
When I got to New York,

this guy gave me
some names of galleries.

In those days,
you went to galleries

with your portfolio.

So I called some galleries,
they weren't interested.

And then I went up
to see Marvin.

I walked in
and showed these photos,

like, that no one
had ever seen before.

Totally bad prints and torn.

And immediately,
we understood each other.

She showed up
one day with, uh,

a box of pictures,

you know, showed up
in, like, this party dress,

a polka dot party dress

with a lot of crinolines,

and kind of
weird makeup and, uh,

walked up the very fancy stairs
of this gallery

and had this box
of pictures.

And I opened up
this box of pictures

and about 20 of them in it,

and, uh, I had never seen
pictures like that in my life.

These portraits
and pictures of people

kind of living
their lives that really

were unlike anything
anybody else was doing.

Nan:
He asked me
to bring more stuff,

and I brought up a crate.

(laughs)

And I got the cab driver

to bring me up
by giving him a blowjob.

So that's how
I entered the art world.

(laughs)

This was 1979.

Yeah.

("You Can't Be Funky"
by Bush Tetras playing)

♪ ♪

Nan:
The first week we were there,
the Mudd Club opened.

And I met Vivienne Dick.

♪ ...my teeth
to take another bite... ♪

Nan:
Vivienne was curious
about everything.

And a lot of stuff that
happened, she took me to.

♪ Talk, talk, talk ♪

♪ Well, the walls
are so thick that... ♪

Nan:
I mean, there were
different worlds in New York

that I was moving between,

and they didn't necessarily
like each other.

♪ ...that I can't even walk ♪

Nan:
The world of Vivienne

and this woman I lived with
named Suzanne...

♪ Your eyes are shallow
and your glance is cold ♪

Nan:
And Greer...

♪ You can't be funky
if you... ♪

Nan:
She was making
her dolls all the time

and working constantly.

♪ You can't be funky ♪

♪ You can't
be funky ♪

♪ You can't be funky ♪

♪ If you haven't got a soul! ♪

Nan:
And then there was
the world of Bruce...

and David.

♪ ...but always say hello ♪

♪ Well, I lock you up tighter
every place that you go ♪

Nan:
And Cookie.

(disco music playing)

Nan:
She was the center
of New York downtown life.

("Fire" by
Lizzy Mercier Descloux playing)

♪ Fire ♪

♪ I did it to burn ♪

♪ Fire ♪

Nan:
People used to say
we were marginalized.

And we didn't care.

Normal people
were marginalized to us.

♪ You fought hard
and you saved ♪

♪ But it's all going to... ♪

Nan:
Cookie was in films,
she was in plays.

And then she was writing
art criticism.

Cookie used to say,

"I don't know
why people think I'm wild.

"I'm not wild.

"Wildness just appears

on the road in front of me."

You have to hear her voice,
and that tells you everything.

♪ I'll take you to learn ♪

Nan:
This kind of irony and humor.

♪ Gonna burn ♪

"'You should really wait
for Charlie

"'to come back
from the store.

"'He's the one to talk to.

"He's right in there
buying oranges for us.'

"She pointed to
the Haight Street
Chinese fruit store.

"But I'd had enough
and thanked them

"and left looking
for more action.

"These girls were Susan Atkins
and Squeaky Fromme

"and Mary Brunner and others.

"And I missed meeting
Charlie Manson

by five minutes."

Nan:
Cookie was working
as a go-go dancer.

I was dancing in New Jersey

because you didn't have
to take your top off

in New Jersey.

And New York was topless.
New Jersey wasn't.

("Boogie Oogie Oogie"
by A Taste of Honey playing)

Nan:
So we'd take the bus
out to Paterson

and go to these low-life bars
and wiggle our asses

and then get on the bus
and come back to New York.

♪ If you're thinkin'
you're too cool ♪

Nan:
I was dancing to have money
to buy film.

♪ Boy oh boy
have I got news for you ♪

Nan:
Then I started
in the whorehouse.

Yeah, that got pretty ugly.

I haven't kept many secrets
in my life.

But I never did talk
about it before.

But I think at this point
in my life,

I should talk about it

because of
the incredible stigma

around sex work.

Vivienne got really interested
in the fact

that I had worked
in a house.

And decided she wanted
to make a film about it.

It's a fiction film.

I'm playing the madam
of the house where I worked...

who was a monster.

Hi. How are you?
Have you been with us before?

She would have us
on our backs all day,

and then she'd come home
from Bloomingdales,

showing off her lingerie.

(inaudible dialogue)

I mean, sex work
isn't negative in itself,

but it's no party.

It's one of the hardest jobs
you could have.

Newark. Ever been there?

Nan:
And so that's how
Tin Pan Alley came.

Somebody said, uh,
"You should go meet Maggie."

She was hiring women
who had been sex workers,

and kind of helped people
get out of it.

She was an incredible force.

She was a community organizer.

She was a great cook.

She was a radical.

And she was a ballet dancer.

So she hired me pretty quickly.
Like, immediately.

Maggie Smith:
The bar was a safe space
for prostitutes

and also a way
to work their way

out of prostitution
if they wished to do so.

And it was a center
for those on the left,

the squatters movement,

the anarchist movement,
the Black movement,

people who were interested
in supporting

political prisoners
from the Latin left.

And so it was really
a polyglot place.

It had hustlers,

it had artists,

Reuters journalists.

It had people from NBC
who were on strike.

And it had the IRS .

When the IRS would come
in the afternoon to get drunk,

they were as hard to handle
as the bikers.

But the bar was controlled
by women.

It was very important to me
that we not have bouncers

and not depend on male strength
for keeping the peace.

And so when people
behind the bar, including Nan,

decided that it was time
for someone to go,

that person would go.

(Latin music playing
over speakers)

-It's on the house.
-Oh, thanks, Nan.

(indistinct chatter)

(indistinct chatter)

Darryl Pinckney:
Tin Pan was very integrated.

The New Wave was not
a very integrated scene at all.

And also it cut
across class lines,

which New Wave
also didn't do.

I spent a lot of time
at Tin Pan,

but I can't say--

Talk about repetitive nights,
you know?

Nan:
When I first started,
I loved it there.

The first two years...

I listened to people.

Really listened.

And they weren't used to that.

I was sort of the dominatrix
of the bar,

and I got tips
because people wanted

to impress me,
win me back.

And I would work till 4:00
in the morning

and then we'd go
to The After Hours.

(indistinct chatter)

Maggie:
Tin Pan Alley became a major
kind of, uh, staging point

as people were planning
for the Times Square show.

It was multi-floor.

It was collaborative.

There was graffiti,

sculpture,

there were painters,

lots of video work.

There was music...

(funky jazz music playing)

(screams)

(indistinct singing)

Maggie:
The first floor is where
most of the performances were.

So Nan invited everyone
in the bar.

So, yes, I was anxious
to see her work and...

I, you know, was sitting
on the floor and

this music starts
and the slides start.

("I Put a Spell On You" by
Screamin' Jay Hawkins playing)

♪ I put a spell on you ♪

♪ Because you're mine ♪

♪ Stop the things you do ♪

(laughs)
♪ Watch out! ♪

♪ I ain't lyin' ♪

♪ Yeah! ♪

♪ I can't stand ♪

♪ Woo! ♪

♪ No runnin' around ♪

♪ I can't stand... ♪

Maggie:
The work was
incredibly political.

It was about power

and particularly
about the power

that men have over women

and how that power
is translated up in a society.

Darryl:
The very first time
I saw Nan's slideshow,

it was extremely raucous.

What I remember mostly
is the noise,

not just of the music
or of the equipment,

but of people talking
to the screen...

uh, commenting.

Nan:
At the beginning,
the audience would be made up

you know, exclusively
of the people in the show.

So they would scream at me
if they didn't like something,

and, you know, scream
if they loved something.

So I edited according to that
to some extent.

And then I had those pictures
of my friend

having sex
with her boyfriend,

and she demanded
I take them out at some point.

And so that's when I started

photographing myself
having sex.

I figured if I was showing
her having sex,

I had to show
myself having sex.

("Double Shot
(Of My Baby's Love)" by
The Swingin' Medallions playing)

Nan:
I was doing it
at underground clubs,

and my boyfriend at the time
was spinning records .

So that's when
the music started.

I would start with songs
that I knew

and then people would
send me music, literally.

But I changed them
every single time.

It was fun,
it was really fun.

People would be dancing.

You know, it was fabulous.

♪ Somebody let me know ♪

♪ Well, everybody
in the place ♪

♪ Put a whistle in your face ♪

♪ Scream it out and say yo ♪

♪ Hit it ♪

♪ You don't stop ♪

Nan:
I was always late
for everything.

I didn't sleep. I mean,
I was up all night editing.

Darryl:
You never saw
the same thing twice.

She changed the music,
she changed the slides,

she changed the order of them.

Sometimes her own
changed feelings

changed the meanings of them

because her photographs
don't hold just one meaning.

You know, a lot is going on

in, uh,
a Nan Goldin photograph.

And I guess that's
what made people think

it was so cinematic
because to most people,

they seem like characters,

whereas to the people
being photographed,

they seem like themselves.

She photographs from our side.

Nan:
The mid-'80s was when
I was closest to Cookie.

She wasn't doing very well,

so this friend
of hers told her

to spin a globe

and wherever
she put her finger,

to go there.

So she went to Italy,
and she met Vittorio.

It was the greatest love
of her life.

It was a huge wedding .

Everyone in lower New York
was there.

Rene Ricard,

Greer,

David Armstrong,

Francesco Clemente,

Teri Toye.

Peter Hujar was there.

And we were standing next
to each other taking pictures.

It was a beautiful wedding...

and a wild party.

Yeah.

♪ Now there's a man ♪

♪ The living tool of Satan ♪

♪ He charges forth
while others are debating ♪

♪ Conniving, cocky knave
with all the trimmings ♪

♪ I know one thing
can trim him down ♪

♪ Women ♪

♪ In women, he meets
deep authority ♪

♪ In them,
he feels his old ♪

♪ Dependency ♪

Nan:
Once I started
sharing the work,

I got a lot of shit.

"There's no such thing
as a good woman artist,"

was said to me
in, like, the mid '80s.

Uh, it was really
heavy resistance

especially from male artists
and gallerists who said,

"This isn't photography."

"Nobody photographs
their own life."

It was still

a kind of outlier act.

It was basically a time
of black and white,

vertical photographs.

So it's hard to understand

that that could have
ever been radical.

I thought the art world
was bullshit

and that Times Square
was real life.

That's where I met Brian.

Our first date,

we went to see The Clash

right around the corner
from the bar.

And then we went up
to Harlem and copped.

And then he just stayed.

And he stayed for '81 to '84.

He was beautiful at the time,
and I fell in love with him.

He was very tender.

You can see it
in Brian's eyes.

We had very good sex,

and that can keep
people together

for a long time.

And then we started
fighting a lot .

And I was good at fighting.

He wanted to break up,
and I didn't want him to.

And then we went
through that a lot,

trying to break up.

And then when I went to Berlin,
we'd, you know, broken up.

And then he came
to Berlin and--

And that story.

I did a slideshow
at some loft,

and we went to a bar.

And then he realized
I'd been with this girl,

and he became jealous.

And that's what set it off.

We were so intertwined,
we didn't know how to break up.

So this was his way
of breaking up.

He punched me
in the face repeatedly.

Like boom, boom, boom.

And he went after my eyes.

I was bleeding,
and there was this girl,

Sylvie, from Paris.

Sylvie came in
and dragged me out.

She saved my life.

He trashed the room,

and he wrote in lipstick
all over the room:

"Bitch," "Cunt"...

He burned my diaries.

The greatest luck of my life
is that I left the slideshow

at the loft
where I'd shown it

because he would
have destroyed it.

Laura:
He would have destroyed it.

Nan: Yeah.

All the bones
in the orbital floor

of my eye were broken.

-And, um...
-Laura: To go for your eyes.

Nan:
...Maggie said
he wanted to blind me.

My pictures
of myself battered

were what kept me
from going back.

Women who've been battered
have come to me and told me

that they were able
to talk about it

because of those pictures.

The struggle between
autonomy and dependency

is the core of
"The Ballad of
Sexual Dependency."

My father tried
to get it stopped

from being published.

You know,
pictures were one thing,

but they were so afraid
of the text...

'cause he said
that I was trying

to prove that
they killed my sister.

That's how he put it.

You know, Brian was trying
to get it stopped.

It makes it
even more radical,

all these men
trying to stop it.

When I got back to New York,
I went to Tin Pan.

I was terrified because
there were all those men,

and I couldn't be
in a crowd with men.

Maggie thought I was
shooting dope and I wasn't.

But I was snorting it.

And I remembered
when I quit Tin Pan, I thought,

"Oh, now I'm gonna get
really strung out

because there's nothing
to stop me."

And I did.

It's a little scary
around here.

A "New York Post" reporter
called me cold

without being introduced.

He called me
on my cell phone.

He said he got it
on the internet.

We have to really have
the facts

if we're going to go up
against this family.

They could sue us, right?

Megan:
After a few of our actions,

Purdue Pharma started
taking out full-page ads

in "The New York Times,"

saying, "Of course, we care
about the opioid crisis.

We're in the market
of opioids."

People are still accepting
Sackler donations.

Marina:
What's happening with
the National Portrait Gallery?

Nan:
I don't know what's going on

with my work being
in the show or not.

What do people think?

Group Member:
It would be a serious blow

if Nan Goldin refuses
to show her work there

because of Sackler money.

So...

Megan:
Nan was set

to have a retrospective at
the National Portrait Gallery

in the UK,

but they're in the middle

of accepting
a $1.3 million grant

from the Sacklers.

So Nan told them
that she would not do

her retrospective with them

if they were to accept it.

(heavy breathing)

Person: Woo!

Nan:
Unbelievable!

Oh man, it's working, right?
It's working.

Megan:
I can't believe it!

David Velasco:
When the National
Portrait Gallery

refused the donation
from the Sacklers,

I thought this is
a watershed moment.

This is an incredible,
like, rush

just to think that,

um, people are actually
beginning to rethink

how-- how we do things.

Nan:
Let's go over what happened
in one week.

I think it doesn't happen
to activist groups very often.

On Tuesday,

the National Portrait Gallery
was the first to refuse money.

Group:
Yeah!

Nan:
On Thursday, the Tate crumbled.

On Friday,

surprisingly, the Guggenheim.

Person: Yeah!

And that was shocking.

(applause)

Nan:
Okay, and then

those dirty deep
bottom feeders,

the hedge fund,

refusing to take
the Sackler money,

which is unprecedented.

(group cheering)

Megan:
The domino effect was huge.

The fact that this is,
like, happening

by all these major museums

and also Nan has her hand

in, like, every single one,
including the Tate,

is major, and then
the Met followed.

But it was not
good enough for us.

We had a very clear demand.

No longer accept Sackler money.

You know,
then the next part obviously

is take down the name.

Patrick:
Subsequently, we then saw

this WhatsApp log
that came out

from the Mortimer Sackler
family members.

And you actually see them
start to talk about Nan Goldin.

They talk about it
solely as a matter

of public relations management.

You don't have
a single person who says,

"Well, wait a second.

"Maybe there's some substance
to this critique.

"We should look hard
at what we've done.

"Is there some way
we can make amends?

Are there questions
we should be asking?"

Instead, it's just entirely,

"How do we manage
this PR problem?"

Laura:
When did you know
you were being followed?

I was leaving Nan's

by myself
on a Friday night.

And...

I noticed a car.

I noticed that the person
sitting in it

is obscuring his face.

And the second I'm directly
across from him,

he kind of looks at me.

The next week,
as I'm crossing

my direct street,
up to the stop sign,

pulls this, this car.

And I looked at him.

And I just kept walking.

I walked for, like,
15 feet or so

and when I looked back,
he was just taking my photo

from his car.

And, like, I'm-I'm just,
like, having a memory

of that, that moment
because it's like,

there is no--

I don't think
I've experienced

a greater fear
than that moment

'cause I don't know
who the fuck this guy is.

But I know it's the same guy
from the week before.

So I think
I even yelled at him,

but I don't even know
if he knew.

He, like, peeled out.

And I was terrified.

And then...

imagine my shock
when the next week,

like, exactly a week later,

he's-- this guy
is outside of Nan's.

We just walked
out of Nan's house.

The same car is
in front of the house again.

Person:
And the guy is...

right there...

watching me film him
right now.

(horn honks)

Megan:
Oh, he's pulling out right now.

Patrick:
I went out with my wife
and two children.

I have two small boys.

We walked out one day
to run an errand,

and we're getting
into the car,

and a neighbor came over
and she said,

"Hey, I, I don't want
to freak you out,

"but, but just up there,

"there's a guy who's parked
across the street

"from my house in an SUV,

"and he's been there all day,

and I think he's
watching your house."

So the first thing I thought,
of course, is that

I knew that Nan had had
this experience,

and Megan had had
this experience.

Um...

and so it felt of a piece

in terms of the MO.

When I was fact-checking
my book,

I asked Purdue
if they knew anything

about these people
who'd been following Nan

and Megan and me,

and Purdue came back
and said,

"Absolutely not. Of course,
we would never do such a thing.

That's outrageous."
Really strenuously denying it.

And in my queries
to the Sacklers,

I, I asked
the same thing and, uh,

there were some
of the things I asked about

that they came back
and denied.

And this was not one of them.

Person:
Bob is one of our board members.

(indistinct chatter)

Megan:
Hi, how are you?

Person:
Now, admittedly,

it's a little crazy here.

(indistinct chatter)

Person 2:
So has anybody had
a Narcan kit before

or, um, have been
through a Narcan training?

Yeah, I got a kit
a couple of weeks ago.

-Okay.
-I have a kit in my house,

-but I haven't been trained.
-Okay.

So I'm just going to go over
just a couple of the essentials,

you know, signs and symptoms
of an opiate overdose,

and how to use Narcan

to reverse
an opiate overdose, okay?

So if you see somebody
who you think

could be experiencing
an opiate overdose,

you say, "Are you okay?"
They don't respond.

You do the sternal rub,
they still don't respond.

Um, you may shake them.

If they still don't respond,

that's when
you're gonna give Narcan.

So you're going to give Narcan
and call 911.

You can do whichever you want
to do first, but do both.

Open it up, hold it.
Spray it up their nose, okay?

If it's not an overdose,

it's not going to hurt them,
and it won't work.

But if it is an overdose,

it's gonna save their life.

Okay?

Harry:
Focusing on harm reduction
is what's going

to bring people
out of this crisis.

Safe consumption sites,

reducing stigma,
and helping drug users

is the long goal, so.

Assemblywoman:
Okay, we're going
to start the hearing.

Um, good morning.

I'd like to welcome you
to today's hearing

on the adequacy of funding

for substance use
disorder services.

Our next witness
is Nan Goldin,

founder of Prescription
Addiction Intervention Now.

I'm gonna speak, by and large,
from the personal experience.

That maybe will help inform you
of what it means,

some of these, uh, bills
that you're trying to pass,

what it actually impacts
on a human being.

"I wouldn't have gotten off Oxy
without buprenorphine.

"On a small dose
of buprenorphine,

"cravings for opioids
are reduced.

"At larger doses,

"you can't even feel the effects
of opioids if you try.

"I was one of the lucky ones

"who was able
to access MAT immediately

"and afford good treatment.

"Doctors need to pay to train
and receive a waiver

"to prescribe buprenorphine,

"when no such certificate
is required

"to prescribe OxyContin.

"Again, this is a policy
that increases

"the stigma in
the medical community

"about treating people
addicted to drugs.

"People need to be kept alive.

"Addiction is not
a moral issue.

"It is not a criminal issue.

"Harm reduction means
not only recovering

"the harm caused by
the disease of addiction,

"but also the harm caused
by the social and moral assault

on people with
substance use disorder."

Assemblywoman:
Thank you very much.

It's important
to hear from people

who take, uh,
Medication-Assisted Treatment.

-But I'm not ashamed of it.
-Assemblywoman: No.

And it's not
my road to recovery.

-Assemblywoman: Right.
-It is my recovery.

Assemblywoman:
That's important to share.

People think you have
to be off everything

in order to be in recovery,

and that's certainly not true.

Nan:
Yeah, the stigma is terrible.

Assemblywoman:
Okay. Thank you so much.

Person:
Yeah, right here.

Okay.

Nan:
Lock arms?

Megan:
We joined with

Housing Works
and Vocal-New York,

who really wanted
to do an action.

-Protester: And we are here...
-Group: We are here...

Protester:
...to draw attention to...

Group:
...to draw attention to...

...Overdose Awareness Day!

Group:
...overdose Awareness Day!

-No stigma!
-No shame!

-No stigma!
-No shame!

-No stigma!
-Group: No shame!

-No stigma!
-Group: No shame!

Annatina Miescher:
In order to do
the harm reduction,

the safe consumption sites

invite people in

and say, "Look...

"Whatever you're dependent on

"is not what we question
right now.

"We just want you to be able
to, to do it in a safe way.

"Not put anybody at risk.

"Here's how to shoot up
in a clean way.

You don't know what you bought,
we'll test it for you."

Protester:
Hey, Cuomo,
what do you say?

Group:
How many people died today?

(indistinct
police radio chatter)

Group:
How many people died today?

Protester:
Hey, Cuomo,
what do you say?

Group:
How many people died today?

(chanting) No more deaths!
No more deaths!

No more deaths!

(people cheering)

(projector clicking)

Nan:
I went to rehab
for the first time in 1988.

I had been kind of isolated
from my friends.

I thought I was going back
to my community.

And then I realized most of
the people were dead or dying.

Group: (chanting)
We'll never be silent again,
Act Up!

We'll never be silent again,
Act Up!

We'll never be silent again,
Act Up!

We'll never be
silent again, Act Up!

We'll never be silent again,
Act Up!

We'll never be silent again!

Act Up! Fight Back!
Fight AIDS!

Act Up!
Fight Back! Fight AIDS!

Protester:
Act Up! Fight Back! Fight AIDS!

Act Up! Fight Back!
Fight AIDS!

(crowd cheering)

Nan:
It was like World War II.

Uh, we watched everybody
get wiped out,

and there was nothing
we could do.

(indistinct chatter)

Nan:
I got a call
from Artists Space,

and they asked me
to curate a show.

I wanted the subject
of it to be AIDS.

And I was told
there hadn't been

any shows about AIDS.

I asked all my friends

to contribute something

because I wanted it
to be a community.

It was the first show
I curated.

David Wojnarowicz:
Mortality no longer feels

like some abstraction
that I could push away

to the age of 80
or 90 or--

You know, there's no longer
a luxury of, of...

pushing the idea
of mortality away.

Nan:
David Wojnarowicz
was my spiritual guide.

He was my political guide.

David:
"If you want to stop AIDS,
shoot the queers,"

says the governor of Texas
on the radio.

And his press secretary
later claims

that the governor
was only joking

and didn't know
the microphone was turned on.

And besides, he didn't think
it would hurt

his chances
for re-election anyways.

And I wake up every morning.

I wake up every morning in this
killing machine called America,

and I'm carrying this rage
like a blood-filled egg.

And there's a thin line,
a thin line

between the inside
and the outside,

a thin line between
thought and action.

And that line is simply made up
of blood and muscle and bone.

And I've been looking
all my life

at the signs around us,

in the media,
or on people's lips,

the religious types outside
St. Patrick's Cathedral,

shouting to the men
and women in the gay parade,

"You won't be here next year.

You'll get AIDS and die!
Ha ha!"

Nan Goldin, uh,
curated this show

with the idea
of choosing the work

of people that she knew

who were affected by AIDS,

who were living with AIDS.

She wanted to dispel
the notion of AIDS victim.

Now, I'm hardly a victim
if I can resist.

What I see is
institutionalized ignorance

about this epidemic.

She also wanted to deal
with issues of sexuality

in the midst
of this epidemic.

That there was sexuality,
there was safe sexuality,

and that, uh, that this was
going to continue to occur

despite, you know,
the silencing

of that information
by a church or government.

Nan:
There is really important work
in the show.

Like David's.
Like Peter Hujar's.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

Mark Morrisroe.

Greer Lankton.

Darrel Ellis.

People both really well-known
and people unknown.

It was about
the loss of a community.

And trying to keep
people's legacy alive.

I called David and asked him
to write for my catalogue.

I sent him pictures

of some of the work
that, that was in it,

and I said, "You can write
whatever you want.

I'll support
whatever you write."

I was asked to write
a catalogue essay

pertaining to a show
dealing with AIDS

and a community of people.

So I started talking about

what I was experiencing
right there in my life

and dealing with image
and representation

and everything seen
through the framework

of having a taboo disease
in this society.

Nan:
I love that this tiny,
little, skinny catalogue

with, like,
thumbnail reproductions

in black and white

could cause
a major political shake-up.

Newsreader:
At the Artists Space
Gallery in Tribeca,

preparations are still underway
for next week's exhibit,

but the National Endowment
of the Arts

has canceled its grant.

Newsreader 2:
The National Endowment
for the Arts refuses

to sponsor an art show
here in New York City

because it deals
with AIDS and homosexuality

and also offends
some political sensibilities.

One thing I want to point out
is that it's artist-organized.

It's organized by a photographer
named Nan Goldin...

Nan:
Susan Wyatt, the director,

got nervous
about David's writing,

and so she took it
to the NEA.

Newsreader 3:
The catalogue
reportedly criticizes

Senator Jesse Helms

for his position
on homosexuality and art

and calls
New York Cardinal O'Connor

"a fat cannibal
in a black skirt."

Interviewer:
You think the phone
is gonna ring again?

-Any minute.
-Interviewer: About what?

What do you think-- What
do you think it's gonna be--

It's probably
Cardinal O'Connor,

you know, expressing
his, uh, direct support

of my statements.

And, uh, admitting that,

since he does feast
on the body of Christ,

that he is a cannibal.

And that, yes, he does have
a penchant for black skirts.

He is fat, translucent,
and, uh, immoral.

(phone ringing)

Nan:
After the news first broke,

David called, really upset,

and told me that
they were trying

to make him take out

"fat fucking cannibal
in black skirts."

(inaudible)

I think it's very dangerous
and very scary.

I see an outbreak of McCarthyism
and a blacklisting of artists

if this is continued
to allow to happen.

John Frohnmayer:
What happened is

that the artistic focus
of the show

really was lost.

And I-- And what,
what turned out

to be the show
in its present form,

uh, was not, and is not,
sound artistically.

Newsreader:
Composer Leonard Bernstein

managed to become embroiled
in the controversy.

This after declining
the National Medal of Arts

because of the NEA action
taking away the grant.

David:
And the thing that
makes me laugh is,

if at this point in time,

images and words

that can be made
by an individual

have such power

to create this, this,
uh, storm of controversy,

isn't that great?

It means that
the control of information

has a crack in its wall.

(phone ringing)

Hello?

Yeah.

Hi, uh...
(chuckles)

Well, it's just been a zoo.

Newsreader:
Senator Alfonse D'Amato tore up

an art catalogue
on the Senate floor...

David:
How can they ignore
the political aspect of AIDS?

Is the fact
that I may be dying

of AIDS in 1989,
is that not political?

Is the fact that I don't have
health insurance

and I don't have access
to adequate health care,

is that not political?

(somber music playing)

Nan:
Vittorio was given
three months to live,

and he started
drawing cartoons.

He was still alive
a year and a half later.

That's the,
the wake of Vittorio.

Cookie had already
lost her voice.

She was constantly writing

so people could see
what she needed and wanted.

Then Sharon came back
to take care of Cookie.

The picture of Sharon
nursing Cookie...

to me, this is
the meaning of love.

I was raging.

"Call this doctor.
Call that doctor.

"Someone's gonna be able
to help her.

"There's got to be something.

There's a treatment
out there somewhere."

And then to realize
there was no doctor to call.

It was just--
I didn't get it.

♪ ♪

We had Cookie's memorial
at St. Mark's Church,

and the next day,
"Witnesses" opened.

David:
My name is David Wojnarowicz.

And I'd like to read this
in memory of Peter Hujar,

Keith Davis, Bebe Smith,

Cookie Mueller, Vittorio.

One of the first steps in
making the private grief public

is the ritual of memorials,

and I've attended
a number of memorials

in the last five years.

And at the last one
I attended,

I suddenly found
myself experiencing

something akin to rage.

And what made me angry,
what made me angry was

realizing that the memorial
had little reverberation

outside the room
it was held in.

And at the same time,
worry that friends

will solely become
professional pallbearers,

waiting for each death
of their lovers,

friends, and neighbors

and polishing
their funereal speeches,

perfecting their rituals
of death rather than

a relatively
simple ritual of life,

such as screaming
in the streets.

Group: (chanting)
Not the church! Not the state!

We decide
what art is great!

Not the church!
Not the state!

We decide
what art is great!

Not the church!
Not the state!

Step on the sidewalk,
can't stay in the street.

David:
And I imagine
what it would be like

if friends had
a demonstration

each time a lover or a friend
or a stranger died of AIDS.

And I imagine
what it would be like

each time a lover, friend,
or stranger died of AIDS

or of this disease,
their friends,

lovers, or neighbors
would take their dead body

and drive with it in a car

a hundred miles an hour
to Washington, D.C.,

and blast through the gates
of the White House

and come to a screeching halt
before the entrance

and then dump
their lifeless forms

on the front steps.

But bottom line,
even a tiny charcoal scratching

done as a gesture to mark
a person's response
to this epidemic

means whole worlds to me
if it's hung in public.

And bottom line, we have
to find our own forms

of gesture and communication.

You can never depend
on the mass media

to reflect us
or our needs

or our states of mind.

Group: (chanting)
Art is sex and politics.

NEA, stop your tricks.
Art is sex and politics.

Nan:
Mark Morrisroe died
soon after it opened.

David Wojnarowicz died
in 1992.

People don't really understand
the anger and frustration

and pain of those years.

They don't understand
what we went through.

It's still killing people.

It never went away.

David Armstrong died in 2014.

You know, we spent
a lot of our life together.

Decades of friendship.

(group chanting in French)

Many people have started

to refuse donations
from the Sacklers,

including the Guggenheim Museum,
the Met Museum, the Tate,

and the National
Portrait Gallery,

as well as
medical institutions worldwide.

We need to demand that
the Louvre stand by and hear us,

and be the first
to take down their name.

(drumming)

♪ ♪

(projector clicking)

Laura:
Can I ask you a question?

Nan:
What?

Laura:
When you overdosed,
were you alone?

Nan:
Yeah.

Totally.

I thought it was dope
so I snorted it,

and it was fentanyl.

And a lot of people
want fentanyl,

but I was not prepared
for fentanyl.

And I just went out
like that.

I just went out.

And then I came back.

And then I went out again.

Nobody brought me back.
I just came back.

I'm so lucky that
I came back by myself.

I mean, all the judgment

of people
who are addicted to drugs

are stigmatized
without understanding

what the experience
of not having these drugs is.

To have to go
through withdrawal,

your brain is stripped
of its opioid receptors,

so you have no protection
from any kind of pain.

It's not just
the physical part.

It's like...

the darkest...

you can go.

It's a darkness
of the soul.

It's unbearable.

(tense music playing)

(phone line beeping)

Person 1: (on phone)
Okay. I am here.

You can come by
whenever you want.

-Person 2: (on phone) Hello?
-Person 1: (on phone) Hi.

Person 2:
What did you say?

Person 1:
I'm here at the restaurant.

You can come here
whenever you want.

Person 2:
Great. How many did you get?

Person 1:
All that you wanted.

(phone hangs up)

(phone line beeping)

-Person 3: (on phone) Yeah?
-Person 4: (on phone) Hi.

Person 3:
Who is it?

Person 4:
You still in the bed?

Person 3:
Oh no, I never went to sleep.

You know what really, like,
hit me as peculiar?

-Person 4: Hmm?
-Person 3:
And I've been thinking

about it all morning.

Person 4:
Hmm?

Person 3:
Misery does not love company.

Misery loves attention...

-(Person 4 laughs)
-Person 3: ...in this case.

(wipers swishing)

(people chattering)

Nan:
The supply
has become very dirty.

Basically lethal.

Okay. Here we go.

Fentanyl is
in everything now.

(indistinct chatter)

Nan:
Isn't this is fentanyl here?

Person:
So fentanyl has,
like, one big peak,

-coke has two peaks right here.
-Nan: Okay.

Person: And they're at
slightly different numbers.

Nan:
Okay.

Person:
Um, here you can see
this deviates.

Nan:
You want to show them
the bloody ones you did?

No, but it's good
'cause then it will be
obvious it's not real.

(indistinct chatter)

What is our messaging?
What are we--

Harry:
Our messaging is,

"Purdue is bankrupt,

"but the Sacklers aren't.

"Their personal wealth

"has all been made
from OxyContin,

and it needs
to be taken from them."

Nan:
I think the messaging is

-the Sacklers are
getting away with murder.
-Yeah.

Nan: We want their money
and where we want to spend it.

Person:
Addressing the fact
that they moved...

Patrick:
The company ends up
declaring bankruptcy.

That's this kind of amazing
escape hatch because...

what happens is that Purdue,
the company, says,

"Listen, we realize
there's all these lawsuits,

"but we don't have
the resources to,

"to fight
or settle them all,

"and so instead we're gonna
declare bankruptcy

because our coffers
are almost empty."

But the reason that the coffers
are almost empty, we now know,

is that behind the scenes
for a decade

leading up to this
bankruptcy plea,

the Sacklers have been
quietly siphoning money

out of the company.

So they took
more than $10 billion

out of the company
before it declares bankruptcy.

-Protester: Whose money?
-Group: Our money!

-Protester: Whose blood?
-Group: Our blood!

-Protester: Whose money?
-Group: Our money!

-Protester: Whose blood?
-Group: Our blood!

Person:
You think they could
get away with this?

Of course. Yes.

I never expected that
they'd be held accountable.

I don't think
that much money

can be taken away
from a billionaire family.

Mike Quinn:
The fact that a bankruptcy court
is deciding

a public--
an issue of pu--

like, a public
crisis issue is crazy.

That's the problem.

So I've been involved
since the beginning basically.

At some point, a light bulb
went on, and I was like,

"Let's bring the activism
into the courtroom,"

and, um, ever since then,

we've been fighting
in the court.

And we weren't exactly
welcomed the first time.

You know, we're like,
like little assassins.

We, like, go in
and, mm-mm, and get out.

I told the lawyer
for Purdue that

I'm doing it pro-bono.

He was like, "What?"

(chuckles)

He was like,
"What? Wait, what?"

You know, because they spent
$30 million a month

on legal fees
and professional fees

in this case.

There's, like,
80-something attorneys

and people on this call.

That's a lot.

Judge Drain: (on laptop)
Good morning,
this is Judge Drain.

This is a completely
telephonic hearing.

Uh, we're here today in,
in re: Purdue Pharma L.P.

Your Honor, we think
there's a huge mistake here.

We think the process that
the DOJ went through was wrong.

We think that the results,
which are completely vague

and, you know, baffling
to me and my clients, is wrong.

The DOJ neither invited input
from Purdue's victims

nor the public
nor apparently

any members of
the House and Senate.

The negotiation
between these two parties,

the DOJ
and Purdue/the Sacklers alone,

is not sufficient to make
this kind of policy decision.

My clients are like
the Ghost of Christmas Past.

They're here
to tell you in 2007,

they saw there was a problem,

the problem got worse,

and this is our moment--
their moment to tell you

we gotta make sure
that the future is safer.

Judge Drain:
Okay, well...

Alright, thank you.

Marshall Huebner: (on laptop)
Good morning, Your Honor,

and good morning
to everyone, uh,

who is on the line.

Your Honor, Mr. Quinn
many times used

the phrase
"Purdue/the Sacklers."

The kind of suggestion
that Purdue and the Sacklers

are in this together

is really not helpful.

And it's just,
it's not fair.

Nan:
This is so depressing.

Thank you so much, Mike.

Thank you so much for going
out there and battling.

Megan: Yes.

I feel proud
to be doing it,

and, um, whatever,
you know, we're in it.

I mean, the fact that
our group is in the bankruptcy,

at the front
of the bankruptcy,

fighting every single thing
tooth and nail,

-is pretty amazing.
-Yeah, it's pretty funny.

It's fucking crazy.

Is there any chance
of criminal charges?

Mike: No.

The way
the plan's structured,

if the DOJ filed,

um, criminal charges
against the Sacklers now,

it would blow up
the whole bankruptcy.

So effectively, they just dodged
criminal liability.

We followed these people
into bankruptcy court

and we're watching them
completely manipulate

the justice system.

There's no justice for us,
only for billionaires.

So all we can hope

is that the money
in the settlement

that goes to the states
goes to the right places,

that it goes to harm reduction
and not policing.

-Right.
-(cheering and applause)

That it goes to groups like you
that are saving lives.

Judge: (on laptop)
This is a proceeding
in federal court.

It is being held remotely,

but the rules and decorum
of a federal court apply.

(Megan whispering indistinctly)

Megan:
Yeah.

Judge: (on laptop)
So let me confirm...

Uh, I see, uh, David Sackler

on the screen,
and I see, uh, Theresa Sackler.

Uh, Richard Sackler,
uh, is on the phone

and will stay on the phone
throughout this proceeding.

Uh, Dr. Sackler,
can you confirm that for me?

Richard Sackler: (on phone)
Yes, Your Honor,

I am here on the phone,
and I'm listening.

Lawyer: (on laptop)
Before we start,

there's one clarification
I wanted to make.

I believe Richard said
that he is listening.

I believe he's also supposed
to say that he is watching,

he's supposed to be
watching the video
but not seen.

Can he confirm that?

Richard:
Uh, I can confirm that, I saw--

I've seen everything.

Judge: Okay, and,
and, uh, that's important.

And thank you
for raising that, Mr. Price.

Alright, uh, the first person
who will speak today

is Tiffinee Scott.

Richard.

David.

Theresa.

We have never met,
but I feel like

I already have
a relationship with you

due to OxyContin.

Have you ever provided Narcan
to one of your children?

Have you revived one of your
children from an overdose?

I have. There are no words
to describe my pain.

In May of 2020, she was found
unresponsive, life--

lifeless in bed
by me, her mother.

The deceit and horror
you all caused, shame on you.

I remember the day
Trent told me

he was addicted to OxyContin.

He called me from the campus
at the University of Alabama.

I could tell in his voice,
there was great fear.

I drove the three hours,
and he met me in tears,

we wept together.

"Dad, I can't stop
taking Oxy.

Dad, I'm afraid I'm going
to die." And he did.

-This is so hard.
-Victim: (on laptop)
I encountered opioids

for the first time
shortly after

you launched OxyContin.

And I am one
of the living survivors

of your monumental greed.

Megan: Oof.

Victim:
I hope that every face,

every single victim's face

haunts your every
waking moment...

-It won't.
-Victim: ...and your
sleeping ones, too.

Judge:
Thank you.

The next person
to speak is Nan Goldin.

It's nice to finally see
the Sacklers face-to-face.

The Sacklers'
so-called apology,

which was mandated
by this settlement,

is insulting to all of us
who have been damaged by them.

One family
is largely responsible

for the onset of this crisis.

that has led to the deaths

of over
half a million Americans,

and caused irreparable damage
for generations to come.

Yet their settlement
grants them immunity,

not just for themselves,

for, for generations
of Sacklers to come.

Purdue has been found guilty
of federal crimes,

but its private owners
have never been prosecuted.

We hope the Justice Department
will pursue criminal charges.

Thank you.

Judge:
Okay, thank you.

(through speakers,
person sobbing indistinctly)

Dispatcher: (through speakers)
They're already on the way,

they've already
been dispatched.

Has he taken anything?

Person 2:
I just don't know.

He has in the past.

(person sobbing indistinctly)

Megan:
Oh, my God.

(indistinct chatter)

Dispatcher:
You said he's 20 years old?

-Person: Yes.
-Dispatcher: What's his name?

- Person: Pardon me?
- Dispatcher: What's his name?

Person:
Bryan... (indistinct)

Dispatcher:
Okay. We're on the way, okay?

Person 2:
Thank you, sir.

4,804 days.

Richard,
if you're still listening,

that's how many days since
I made that horrifying call.

I have lived with the pain
and heartache

as a result of the loss
of my only child,

a pain you will
never understand.

I can only echo
the pain and suffering,

um, that Kristy feels
and that all of us

that are here today feel.

I want to point out
to the Sacklers

that by the time
this two-hour hearing is over,

you can add 16 more people

to your death list.

(projector clicking)

Nan:
I asked my father for...

records from the hospitals
she'd been in.

And he gave them to me
without reading them himself.

So this box came...

"The Box,"
I think of it as,

with the primary documents.

(solemn music playing,
choir sings indistinctly)

There was the history
of Barbara

for me to read and...

I was terrified.

I wanted to know,
but I didn't want to know.

(solemn choir continues
singing indistinctly)

I didn't understand that
the first place she was sent

was actually an orphanage.

And then she burned down
the curtains and ran away.

She's described as
a "rebellious adolescent."

(choir whispers indistinctly,
continues singing)

It says in the interviews

that the psychiatrist
thought that

Mrs. Goldin should be
in the hospital,

not Miss Goldin.

And that's actually written
in the hospital record.

My mother had been
sexually abused for years

by a family member.

And when my sister
hit puberty,

my mother couldn't cope
with it.

(choir continues singing,
chanting indistinctly)

My sister didn't have
any outlet.

She didn't have
any context.

It was not mental illness.

(singing, chanting continue)

I just knew how hard it was
for her to be alive.

She wanted a home so badly.

If she had found people...

if she'd been loved...

she would have survived.

(song fades out)

(train horn blaring)

Narrator:
Persons in the area told police

they had seen Miss Goldin
a short time before

when she asked when
the next train was due to pass.

Shortly before 5:30 p.m.,
persons said,

Miss Goldin put her pocketbook

on the ground
next to the tracks,

then lay down
across the tracks

as the Capitol Limited
approached.

The train's engineer
told police

they saw her
and nailed the brakes

but were unable
to stop the train.

Pathological examiner
ruled her death as a suicide.

Other significant conditions
contributing to death:

Severe mental depression.

Nan:
I mean, that's the problem,
you know?

You grow up being told,

"That didn't happen.
You didn't see that.

You didn't hear that."

And what do you do?

How do you believe yourself?

How do you trust yourself?

How do you continue
to trust yourself?

And then how do you
show the world

that you did experience that,
that you did hear that?

And so that's the reason
I take pictures.

Oh.
(chuckles)

-Nan, what are you...
-Nan: Beautiful,

you look beautiful.

-Nan, does that have sound?
-Nan: Yeah.

Oh, my dear!

Let's go, honey.

Nan:
My mom's a dance fanatic.

(laughs)

And she's gonna teach
her old husband how to move it.

I like to do this...

-Nan: Go, Mom!
-Go for it.

("Mack The Knife" by
The Arthur Murray Orchestra
plays through speakers)

Nan:
My father and mother were
not equipped to be parents.

They had children
because it was expected,

more than it was
about nurturing

other human beings.

Wait a minute. Let me see--

Nan:
That looks good!

Mrs. Goldin:
One, two, three...

Nan:
Yeah, but hold it up more.

Mr. Goldin:
Is that high enough?

Nan.
Wait, let me focus this.

-Yeah, that's beautiful.
-Mr. Goldin: You can see it?

Mrs. Goldin:
Barbara loved Nan very much.

They were very, very close.

When she died,
she had in her pocketbook

a very beautiful,
small book of "Psalms."

And she had this
wonderful quotation from...

Con-- Conrad.

..."The Heart of Darkness."

Joseph Conrad.

She was also,
like Nan,

a very wide reader.

And I have
the quotation upstairs,

but it had in it
something about...

uh...

-Can you stop?
-Nan: Yeah.

-You should get the quotation.
-Stop.

Mrs. Goldin:
Something about regrets.

Yeah. Infinite regrets.

Is it on now?

Quotation from
"Heart of Darkness"...

Nan:
And it was just written
on a piece of paper?

Was-- yeah.

"It's a droll thing life is,
that mysterious arrangement

"of merciless logic
for a futile purpose.

"The most you can hope for
is some knowledge of yourself...

"that comes too late...

A crop of
unextinguishable regrets."

Nan:
I think this story
is an important story,

not just for me...

but for society.

About conformity and denial.

And also about stigma.

The wrong things
are kept secret,

and that destroys people.

My sister was
a victim of all that,

but she knew
how to fight back.

Her rebellion was
the starting point for my own.

She showed me the way.

-Let's turn off for a minute.
-Laura: Yeah.

(recorder clicks)

(light music playing)

♪ ♪

Harry:
Oh wow.

(chuckles)

♪ ♪

Nan: Wow.

Nan:
We did it, baby.

Friend:
Unbelievable.

Nan:
Four years of work.

I mean,
Congress didn't do anything.

Justice Department
hasn't done anything.

Bankruptcy court, f-- you know,

completely... left them
better than ever.

You know, completely--
they're completely vindicated

by bankruptcy court.

And so this is the only place
they're being held accountable,

the only place!

And we did it.

(happy chatter)

Megan:
Wow...

Patrick:
Oh, my goodness.
What a feeling, huh?

-Incredible.
-It's amazing.

Megan:
The Sacklers
are now "private sources."

It doesn't--
here, stay there.

It doesn't say
what private sources.

(both laugh)

Beautiful!

-Oh man!
-Megan: It's so good!

It's hard to believe.

♪ ♪

(solemn choir
singing indistinctly)

("Unsuffer Me" by
Lucinda Williams Playing)

♪ ♪

♪ Unlock my love ♪

♪ And set me free ♪

♪ Come fill me up ♪

♪ With ecstasy ♪

♪ Surround my heartbeat
with your fingertips ♪

♪ Unbound my feet
untie my wrists ♪

♪ Come into my world
of loneliness ♪

♪ And wickedness
and bitterness ♪

♪ Unlock my love ♪