New York, NY - Under the Influence: The Film Series, an unprecedented touring showcase of feature films and documentaries in which addiction and recovery play leading roles, opens in the Boston area October 5.

The opening will feature a one-night-only screening of 21 Grams (2003), starring Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actress, Naomi Watts, and Best Supporting Actor, Benicio Del Toro. The movie rolls at 6:30 p.m. at the Kendall Square Cinema at One Kendall Square in Cambridge.

The Boston series continues Oct. 26 with a screening of 28 Days (2000), starring Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen.  Under the Influence then tours Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

Under the Influence, presented by the Recovery Network Foundation, aims to advance the national discussion on addiction-recovery and examine the stigma surrounding the disease, which has prevented people from getting the help they need. The series promotes the concept that addiction is a disease and stresses the benefits of treatment, including the benefits of medication and addiction counseling, which can lead to a solid recovery and prevent relapse.

"Not only are people interested in this as a showcase of serious cinema but they're also responding at a gut level to the idea of using film to examine our values and social conditioning with respect to what influences helped shape our ideas on addiction and recovery," said Robyn Leary, president of The Recovery Network Foundation and executive producer of Under the Influence.

"The first film selection for the Boston series, 21 Grams, is a complex story of three very different individuals and their families, all of whom are intimately acquainted with addiction. There's not much recovery in films, as you may have noticed," she continued, "but 21 Grams provides a wealth of material for our post-screening panel discussion in its penetrating exploration of the trauma this disease costs individuals, families and entire communities."

Panel discussions follow all screenings and feature filmmakers, recovery advocates, specialists in addiction, public policy-makers and other experts focusing on, among other things, how the films in question enhance or subvert the precepts and goals of recovery from alcoholism and other drug addiction.

Post-screening panel members confirmed for the Oct. 5th event:

• Ms. Kattie Portis, Advisor on Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino;
• Dr. Michael F. Bierer, an addictions specialist in practice for more than 20 years at Massachusetts General Hospital;
• David Rosenbloom, PhD., Professor of Public Health at Boston University;
• Michael Botticelli, Assistant Commissioner, Substance Abuse Services in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"Cinema can be a barometer of cultural attitudes and an instrument of cultural change," said William L. White, noted historian and author of the seminal Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America. "The 2006-2007 Under the Influence reveals America's evolving perception of alcoholism and other drug dependence and includes films that have both reflected and sparked turning points in public perception and public policy. These films and their discussions will draw many appreciative audiences from across the United States."

Margaret Parsons, film curator at the National Gallery of Art, is Under the Influence's guest curator. Special advisers to the festival include the pioneer documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles (a Boston native); Catherine Wyler, Producer and Artistic Director of the High Falls Film Festival in Rochester, NY; William L. White, author and noted addiction, treatment and recovery historian; Robin Room, PhD., Professor & Director of the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol & Drugs, Stockholm University; and film specialist Max Alvarez.

Under the Influence is a free public service. The festival is co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR); Join Together; Faces and Voices of Recovery; The Recovery Network Foundation; the National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disability; Cephalon, Inc., and Alkermes, Inc., which have introduced the medication Vivitrol.