Trouble in paradise?

Written By Simon Clark

Does anyone remember A Billion Lives? It was a film about smoking and vaping.

E-cigarettes, it seemed to suggest, have the potential to save a billion lives if only those pesky and corrupt politicians stopped obstructing their adoption by smokers worldwide.

I wrote about the film several times and reviewed it here - Thoughts on A Billion Lives (October 2016).

I was critical of several things - not least the title which was based on a contentious WHO estimate of the number of lives that may be shortened by smoking in the 21st century.

I admired the energy and the commitment director Aaron Biebert brought to the project but the film itself was rather dull and was undermined by what appeared to be an absurd conspiracy theory.

Inevitably I was criticised by vapers who took umbrage at what they perceived to be criticism of a project in which they had invested so much hope.

(Some vapers agreed with me but only in private, which is usually the way. God forbid they should ever support me in public!)

Anyway, fast forward to 2019 and director Aaron Biebert is currently filming a new documentary with the catchy title, You Don’t Know Nicotine.

Intriguingly, some vapers (and vaping advocates) are so appalled by the initial trailer (or teaser), released last week, that they’ve taken to social media (where else?) to make their views known.

Watch the trailer below and draw your own conclusions.

Bear in mind this is only the first trailer so the actual movie may adopt a different tone, but given the stick I got from vapers when I criticised A Billion Lives (after seeing the trailers for that film) it’s hard to be too sympathetic.

More important, I wonder what the organisers of the Global Forum on Nicotine think of it. After all, A Billion Lives had its European premiere at GFN in 2016 and director Aaron Biebert won the event’s Dorn Award.

In 2018 Biebert was appointed chairman of the GFN Film Festival and this year he chaired the film jury and presented the winner with her award.

Meanwhile here are some tweets that were 'liked' or retweeted by the You Don’t Know Nicotine account in the past week:

Returning to the film, I can't be alone in noticing a difference in the way You Don't Know Nicotine was launched and the trailer.

According to the movie's Kickstarter page:

With all the media hype surrounding nicotine, it's time to end the harmful misinformation and educate the public on what nicotine is, isn't, and what should be done with it.

We will answer three big questions during this 75-minute eye-opening journey:

How does nicotine actually affect developing brains?

Are there any benefits to adults who use nicotine without smoking?

Who's covering up the truth about nicotine, and why?

Contrast that with the one-line description of the film that accompanies the 'official documentary teaser':

An unbelievable documentary about nicotine and the teen vaping epidemic. Coming to theaters spring 2020.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing the film (the production values look great!) but that’s just me. If nothing else it will be interesting to see who attends the world and European premieres and who hosts them.

I hope the film is more balanced than the trailer, though. If it isn't vapers and vaping advocates who previously eulogised him may be entitled to ask, 'With friends like Biebert who needs enemies?'!

Simon Clark
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