Documentary film shot in Hagerstown chronicles road to recovery from opioid crisis

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now) — The opioid crisis continues to impact communities all across the nation and the situation in Hagerstown is now the subject of a new documentary.

Regina Hawkins faces the test of overcoming addiction daily.

“This is a long tough road,” Hawkins said. “It is a journey that you have to go through. You cannot do it alone.”

Hawkins’ journey to recovery is an example chronicled in Stephen Hill’s just-released film, Surviving the Hill, about Hagerstown’s community experience to raise addiction awareness.

“The first step is prevention,” Hill said. “Getting this into schools and communities and talking to kids at a young age before the problem actually starts.”

A crusader for awareness through the Washington Goes Purple campaign is Hagerstown’s former mayor, Emily Keller.

“I think this movie puts a very real perspective on the work this country needs to do to fight the overdose crisis,” Keller said.

For Keya Davis, with the Washington County Health Department, reality sets in from seeing the film.

“It gets to show how it hits home and when people see that it hits home, it hits Hagerstown,” Davis said. “You see things in a different light.”

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