From the heart of China’s drug epidemic comes ‘Using’, the story of a journalist and an addict, who despite all odds, develop a relationship of mutual dependency. We follow Ah Long through detox, dealing and relapse, to a conclusion the filmmaker could never have anticipated. Few docs have come so close to the bone.

We meet Ah Long in the shadows of a busy Guangzhou underpass.” Your son, Liu, he’s almost dead!” he cries to the family of an addict he’s found dying on the street. “This is the only way I can help!” By the film’s end, it is Ah Long who is asking for help. Sentenced with the death penalty for drug trafficking, he phones the filmmaker one last time. “I too wanted a family. That feeling would be so nice’” he sighs. He doesn’t see the point in regretting anything else - “when you’re living in the jungle, you’re not the one in control” .

Despite using and dealing himself Ah Long portrays himself as a hero. “Those going hungry, I give them everything really”. Yet increasingly he and his girlfriend, Ah Jun, must rely on Hao, the filmmaker, for support. “No, it’s not like before” Ah Long sighs. He and Ah Jun vow that they’ll quit and begin a course of detox drugs. “I want you to record it. Okay?” Ah Long insists. But Hao’s trust begins to falter and the strains of withdrawal almost tear Ah Long and his girlfriend apart…

“You said Hao took you to get tested for HIV! Hao says you’re lying!” Ah Jun cries as she packs up her things. Like Ah Jun, Hao begins to doubt whether Ah Long will ever go clean. But it seems impossible for her to leave. “‘It’s always better that somebody’s there” she says. A couple of days later, Ah Jun and Ah Long relapse and fall out of contact with Hao.

When Hao hears from Ah Long again, he has swallowed 2 razorblades to avoid arrest and urgently needs Hao’s help. “Before even if you had AIDS they wouldn’t let you go/ this year the law changed” Ah Long says. The Chinese government’s approach to drug addiction is still one of punishment rather than rehabilitation. Ah Long now faces the army-like re-education camps for repeat offenders.

“I need you to pay my rent for me” Ah Long says ‘You’re the only friend I’ve got left”. He still believes that the next big drug deal will save his life. ‘I just need 500 Yuan. Every dog has his day and I’ll have mine again” . “Half the things Ah Long says to you are lies” interrupts a world-weary Ah Jun. When Hao refuses to accept a stolen gift from Ah Long, he immediately turns. “You still see us as using each other” he cries.

When we meet them again, Ah Jun has finally found the courage to leave Ah long for a new life in the countryside. But Ah Long’s time has run out. “I had no idea there were drugs in the bag, someone had sewn them inside” he protests. “I’m not the only one doing drugs out there” Ah Long sighs, affectionately telling Hao: “Your film can finally end”.