Ben: Diary of a Heroin Addict (2008)

Ben Rogers was a bright schoolboy from a loving, middle class family. He played in the orchestra, loved cricket and enjoyed the annual family holiday. But his future promise was halted when he started taking drugs in his teens. Early drinking led to cannabis, harder drugs, and then the revelation to his family, at the age of 21, that he was addicted to heroin. Over the next 13 years Ben and his family battled with his addiction, going through detox, rehab and attempts at 'cold turkey', but his health gradually declined. Whilst attempting another detox aged 34, he died from a brain haemorrhage. But during the last two years of his life, Ben filmed an unflinching video diary showing his final desperate attempts to come off heroin. It's a portrayal of his descent; intimate, raw, and at times difficult to watch, he talks to his glove puppet as he injects into a vein in his groin.

Olly LambertDirector