Broken Down
Producer, Director, Writer 2008

Local filmmaker Harold C. Joe's gritty, compassionate and important film "Broken Down", a story of homelessness in the Cowichan Valley, chronicles his four-day journey spent living on the streets and visiting the seedy, dope-soaked underworld of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Harold's aim was exposing why folks become homeless and how drugs and alcohol keep them that way. His own experiences were both tough and touching and his surprise at how hard it really is to live the exposed life of the homeless added personal truth to the gritty reality of the story.

His concern for the area's homeless found a fine point following the tragic death of Paul Francis James, who had been living in a makeshift shed near downtown Duncan when it burned down. The deliberately set fire, which also maimed another man, spurred public outcry. "It was quite an eye-opener. I knew two people personally. So it really interested me. It's [homelessness] a serious ongoing problem. It upset me to see different official people passing it around, not doing anything. I thought it would be really worthwhile to go out and do a documentary and get the story."

The premiere of Broken Down packed the 731-seat Cowichan Theatre turning away over 200 people. As a result of the sellout debut a second screening was scheduled drawing another near-sellout crowd. In addition to raising awareness of homelessness in the Valley, Broken Down raised over $6,500 which Harold donated to Warmland House, Cowichan's three-story homeless shelter and transition house scheduled to open in August 2009.

Broken Down will be available for sale on dvd August 26, 2008.