Changing the needle

Australia, 1982

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One of the consequences of the Vietnam war is a quarter million Vietnamese drug addicts. This film shot in Vietnam in 1981 shows how an underdeveloped war ravaged country is dealing with this problem. Alternative medicine such as acupuncture, natural medicines and exercises play an important part in the rehabilitation process. It also shows a society trying to cope with material scarcity and poverty - the heritage of underdevelopment and the inevitable result of war. Suitable for upper secondary and tertiary levels.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Martha Ansara

co-producer

Dasha Ross

Martha Ansara

Mavis Robertson

production company

Jequerity

Duration

00:53:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1982

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

015735

Language

English

Subject categories

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Vietnam War, 1961-1975

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → War and society

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Developing countries - Social conditions

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Poverty

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Rehabilitation

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Vietnam - Social Conditions

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Acupuncture

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Alternative medicine

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Drug abuse

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Health education - Developing countries

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Medical care - Developing countries

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Medicine, Chinese

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Narcotic addicts

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Rehabilitation

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

DVD [PAL]; Preservation Print (Section 5)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/77473--changing-the-needle/ |title=Changing the needle |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=24 April 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}