Gentle by Birth (2026)

When tragedy claims her twenty-three-year-old brother in a fatal overdose, independent filmmaker Doree Simon Hatfield launches a deeply personal investigation into how pervasive social stigma sabotages life-saving addiction treatment. What starts as a private mourning session in her family’s living room quickly evolves into a wide-ranging documentary pursuit. Doree immerses herself in grassroots harm reduction clinics, captures the raw atmosphere of massive music events, and walks the polished floors of Pennsylvania’s state capitol to interview policy changers and medical professionals fighting for modernized substance abuse care. As her own ingrained fears about recreational drugs gradually fade, Doree makes an unconventional leap—choosing to experience drug use firsthand. This bold pivot radically redirects the project, shifting the narrative from a clinical examination of familial overdose trauma to a visceral, unfiltered confrontation that places her relatives’ delicate recovery journey at risk.