Saving Carren
	In Stock, Ships Immediately!		DVD: $17.99

		methamphetamine, addiction, drugs, sex trafficking, prostitution, recovery, rehabilitation, treatment, drug trafficking, education, hope, parents, relationships, communication, date rape, animation, Ron Clem, Carren Clem

Film Overview

Directed By: Deborah Gregory Directed By: Heather Arment View Official Website	Release Date: 2010-07-06 Running Time: 0:53 Content Rating: PG14 (Parental Guidance)	Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Audio Language(s): English
Genres: Health >> Substance Abuse Influences: Waltz with Bashir, Persepolis

Synopsis

As Carren staggers toward her father's truck, she takes the first steps of a horrifying journey to the depths of addiction, loss, and - ultimately - one astounding recovery. Saving Carren documents the story of a retired cop who watches his daughter fall prey to the destructive power of methamphetamines, a young woman whose father risks everything to save her, and the love that brings them both back from the brink of death. Beginning with Carren's rape at the age of 14, the film leads us into the darkest corners of its characters' pasts. Alternating between stark animation and riveting personal narrative, Saving Carren proffers access to the private nightmare of a meth addict's world. Most memorable, however, is the strength that Ron and Carren Clem show in redeeming themselves from their respective personal demons to reclaim their lives, and their commitment to inspiring hope in the rest of us by sharing this dynamic story.

Cast

Main Character: Carren Clem
Main Character: Ron Clem

Crew

Director: Deborah Gregory | bio
Deb Gregory first pressed the RECORD button on a borrowed video camera in 2001, and she hasn’t looked back since. Her award-winning short films give voice to a range of topics, from the Angolan civil war to a boy named Boy who was orphaned by the Indonesian tsunami of 2005. Having grown up in Asia and completed her MA in Communications at Leicester University, UK, Deb brings a global perspective to her work. In addition to producing films for nonprofit organizations, she has worked as a web designer, video production teacher, and writer. Deb currently lives and operates out of Columbus, OH, where her husband Jim works as a professor of Aerospace Engineering at The Ohio State University.
Director: Heather Arment | bio
One of Heather Arment’s feet is planted firmly in the world of documentary filmmaking, while the other can be found in the world of motion graphics. She likes to play hopscotch between the two, engendering a distinctive body of work that draws on her expertise in both fields. Heather’s short film War Games was recently featured in WGBH Lab’s War Stories Open Call series, winning her a New England Emmy Award for advanced media animator/motion graphic design. She puts her artistic innovation to work as a freelance filmmaker from her home studio in Seattle, WA.
Producer: Deborah Gregory
Sound Mixer: James Covell
Camera Operator: Chris Martin
Digital Effects: Heather Arment
Camera Operator: Joshua Whiteman
Camera Operator: Josh Fronduti

Bonus Features

Theatrical Trailers

Accolades

Awards

Best International Documentary

Festivals

Spirit Quest Film Festival
Los Angeles International Women's Film Festival
Vail Film Festival
Okanagan Film Festival

Press Reviews

Columbus Dispatch | show/hide snippet
While it is clear that Ron despises drug addicts as 'scumbags' and 'lowlifes,' he must face the reality that his daughter has become the very thing that he hates most. . .
Gregory said the on-camera interviews with Ron and Carren Clem left a lasting impression. "It was really powerful to be part of that. The end result - the restoration that's happened, the healing - is just so beautiful that it's worth watching them through that process."
Billings Gazette | show/hide snippet
Ron Clem, who teaches at Brockton High, had worked as a Los Angeles cop before moving to Montana. He and his wife were hoping to raise their children in what they thought was a safer environment. But at 14 Carren was slipped a drug and raped. She sought refuge from her psychological pain in drugs, eventually becoming addicted to meth.
This Week Newspaper | show/hide snippet
The story of how Carren Clem's life spiraled down, after she was raped at the age of 14, into not only methamphetamine addiction but also theft and prostitution and how father Ron Clem risked everything to save her is the subject of the book "Loss of Innocence: A Family's Journey with Meth," which the two co-authored in 2007.

And now it's the subject of a documentary that was produced and co-directed by Clintonville filmmaker Deb Gregory.
All Sides with Ann Fisher | show/hide snippet
On todays show, a documentary, “Saving Carren,” that tells a personal story to humanize the national problem of methamphetamine addiction and the link between drug abuse and sexual exploitation, with local filmmaker and co-director Deborah Gregory, co-author of “Loss of Innocence: A Family’s Journey With Meth” Carren Clem.
BBC Hardtalk | show/hide snippet
Allan Little talks to Carren Clem, a former crystal-meth addict, and her father Ron about the deadly narcotic which almost destroyed their family, and their journey to recovery.