EX-ADDICT HOSTS ART, FILM FESTIVAL IN LAKE WORTH
LAKE WORTH — Thirty years. That’s how long Manny Mendez drank alcohol and did crack cocaine. He was in prison for 11 years from age 17 to 28.
“That’s where I found my art,” said Mendez, 47, who learned to draw and paint.
He also found some great men in his life. “They loved me until I learned to love myself,” he said.
Mendez has been sober for 61/2 years. He sounds happy. Peaceful, even. He speech is deep, his talk is slow, thoughtful.
Now he’s a co-founder of The Art of Recovery, a treatment center based in Lake Worth.
He also hosts an art and film festival, the second one he’s done.
The Art of Recovery Film Festival will be held at HATCH, 1121 Lucerne Ave., on Friday and the Stonzak Theater at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., on Saturday.
Six films will be shown. The artists are recovering addicts who want to use their work to offer hope and inspiration for families affected by an epidemic killing scores of people across Florida and the United States.
“We want to give other people a platform, like it was given to me,” Mendez said. “People have struggled with something in their lives, so they can help others.”
Justin Sims is a 36-yearold filmmaker, whose 14-minute film, “The Edge Of Madness,” will be playing at the festival. The film is about a young man who is hitting rock bottom with addiction and depression and who makes the only choice he thinks he has.
“Unfortunately, it’s not a good one,” Sims said.
Sims went to last year’s festival and said he was inspired. “It really means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s like family. There’s interest in art, work, there’s music and food and a lot of people every age, shape, size and color. You feel the love when you’re there. It’s like a movement.”
Sims was an alcoholic and drug addict for about 15 years. “I used it as a crutch,” he said. “I couldn’t deal with life on life’s terms, and I didn’t want to grow up.”
But after his father and best friend died, Sims had a wake-up call. “They were two of the most influential people in my life,” he said. “So I stumbled into a meeting and bought into it.”
He’s been clean now for well over a year.
Mendez said about 500 people came to last year’s festival. He’s expecting more this year. He raised $2,000 in 2017 and is hoping to raise even more this year. It costs about $7,000 to produce the festival.
The weekend’s highlight will be the world premiere of “The Art for Hope Tour Film Project,” which Mendez produced. The filmmakers traveled through nine states on their way to the “Fed Up!” opioid crisis rally in Washington, D.C.
“We want to change the stigma about addiction and substance abuse,” Mendez said. “There will be a lot of people who are struggling and can’t seem to find hope. We’ve all been in that state of mind.”