One of the most talked about documentaries of the year is Chemsex, a film produced by VICE that candidly details the lives of a dozen men who are active in the titular scene. Chemsex is an increasingly popular phenomenon among the gay crowd of London, where men have sex whilst high on crystal meth, GHB, mephedrone and other drugs that they inject themselves (or others) with. These orgies can last a full weekend, and with the accessibility of Grindr and other dating apps it is not hard to find new people willing to have a good time with. Rising rates of HIV makes this scene all the more dangerous though, especially as many people aren’t using protection. In the opening scene of the film you see one of the men shooting up, after which he instantly gets horny and starts looking on Grindr for someone to have some fun with. The film is a hard but gripping watch, as it probes the world that these addicted men find themselves in, searching for intimacy in unlikely places. We spoke to William Fairman, one of the film’s two directors.
Have the men that are featured seen the film themselves?
Yeah, almost all of them have. One guy is still in a recovery phase, trying to kick his drug addiction and the film could be a trigger, so we decided that it would be better that he doesn’t see it right now. I was definitely nervous at the screening because the film deals with one of the most extreme and most intimate parts of people’s lives. But luckily all of them fully support it.
Was it difficult to find men that were willing to openly be a part of the documentary?
Well, a lot of the characters in the film came to us. We worked with the Dean Street sexual health clinic and with David, a mentor there, so we distributed flyers there. We asked if there were any men that were willing to share their experiences with us, just to open the discussion a little.
The film doesn’t just show the chemsex parties, but it also tells the personal stories of the men involved. What was it like to sit there and listen to these conversations?
Naturally I felt a lot of empathy for them when they were so emotional, but my role as filmmaker is to create an open and safe environment where they can tell their stories. But it was always on their conditions: if they wanted it to end, it ended. At first most of them were scared to be judged for what they do, but a lot of them ended up revealing way more than they originally intended. That’s what makes those stories so powerful.
These men really expose themselves and now their colleagues, friends and parents will all see that. Was that a struggle for you?
We never wanted to make a Disney-fied version of this subject. That would never work. From the beginning we wanted to show it as it is, from being introduced to the scene to ending up addicted, through to them reaching breaking point and asking for help. Afterwards we asked everyone to consider their involvement in the film and gave them a possibility to withdraw, but everyone still fully supported it. I do feel responsible for the wellbeing of everyone in the film, but not for their entire lives.
Why did you and your colleague Max Gogarty want to make this film?
It is a controversial subject so we wanted to start a discussion and break the taboo of not talking about it. The film is dedicated to the people in the chemsex community, to the characters in the film.
Chemsex is out December 4th. More detailshere.
Credits
Text Noor Spanjer