Documentary filmmakers Pete Schuermann, Robb Watt and Nancy Theken know a thing or two about college-time drinking. They’re college grads, after all, and they were known to quaff a few drinks themselves.
When they were commissioned to document today’s university drinkers, they were shocked at what they saw. “What I see as the difference is we were drinking with each other,” Watt said. “We weren’t drinking against each other.”
Today’s college-age drinking is practically a competitive sport—one that can have tragic consequences. The documentary, Haze, zeroes in on the death of Gordie Bailey, a freshman at the University of Colorado, who died after he drank four bottles of whiskey and six bottles of wine during a fraternity initiation ceremony.
“We had lots of pictures of kids passed out on couches,” said Schuermann. “We needed to show, not just talk about, that one of these kids could not wake up.”
(The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
