For John

200351 min 33 secFilm: Documentary

Direction: Dale Montour

Production: Alanis ObomsawinSally Bochner

Script: Dale Montour

John Diabo was a cherished member of a tight-knit family in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal, Quebec. Nevertheless, John had been tortured by drug addiction for more than a decade. In 1998, he ended his own life at the age of thirty-one.

For John is the intimate story of John's battle with drugs and his eventual suicide. The film, directed by Dale Montour, John's aunt, is also a portrait of his family. Four years after his death, they break their silence. Courageously they share their stories of survival in the aftermath of unimaginable loss.

In moving testimony and family photographs, For John portrays the stark contrast between John's powerful life force and the force of his addiction.

Subject categories


  • Health and Medicine > Coping with Illness and Dying
  • Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > Family LifeHealth and SafetySocial Problems
  • Families > Family Portraits
  • Psychology and Psychiatry > Suicide
  • Health & Wellbeing > Addiction (Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking Cessation) Suicide
  • Indigenous Peoples: Canada > Kanien'kéhaka (Mohawk)

Credits


writer
Dale Montour
director
Dale Montour
editor
James Malloch
additional editing
Phyllis Lewis
original music composer
Eric Lemoyne
camera
Philippe Amiguet
Moira Simpson
location sound
Raymond Marcoux
Jeff Henschel
Alanis Obomsawin
musician
Carla Antoun
Ligia Paquin
Eric Lemoyne
Patrick Vetter
assistant camera
Robert Clement
sound editor
André Chaput
sound technician
Biagio Pagano
digital editing technician
Danielle Raymond
voice recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
transcription
Susan Panneton
research
Dale Montour
digital animation
Louise Overy
post-production coordinator
Claude Cardinal
Linda Payette
re-recording mixer
Shelley Craig
sound post production technician
Daniel Trépanier
on-line technician
Sylvain Desbiens
Denis Gathelier
titles
Benoît Chagnon
production administration assistant
Christine Williams
studio administrator
Marie Tonto-Donati
Nickie Merulla
producer
Alanis Obomsawin
executive producer
Sally Bochner