The Stairs

Fighting Addiction at an Urban Health Center

This documentary examines the lives of habitual drug users at an urban health center staffed by both former and current users. THE STAIRS takes us inside the Regent Park Community Health Centre, focusing on three current staff members: the loquacious, seemingly tireless Marty, who was so addicted at one point that, after being shot in a deal that went south, he stopped for a hit before going to the hospital; Roxanne, a former sex worker whose tales of life in the trade are beyond harrowing; and Greg, a biracial child of the 1960's consumed with a long-delayed legal case hinging on a police officer's use of excessive force.

THE STAIRS subtly expands into a wide-ranging portrait of the conditions that can nurture addiction, most notably poverty and homelessness, as well as the social and legal structures that surround it.

Winner of the Best Canadian Film Award by the Toronto Film Critics Association. Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"A deeply inspiring look at ordinary people striving to defy the odds." - Matt Fagerholm, RogerEbert.com