OHIO duo’s award-winning documentary film is gaining national attention during 2024 Presidential Election

An independent film produced and directed by two Ohio University photojournalism master’s degree graduates Matt Moyer (MA ’17) and Amy Toensing (MA ’07) was recently featured in a New York Times article about Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance and his Appalachian roots. "INHERITANCE" was filmed over 11 years and follows Curtis, a young boy, as he grows up in rural Appalachia, specifically Pomeroy, Ohio, in a family and community surrounded by substance use disorder and poverty. The film examines whether Curtis can break the cycle of addiction that has plagued his family for generations.

“It was amazing to have a journalist like the New York Time’s Robert Draper going in and furthering the reporting that we had been doing,” said Toensing. “Our film immerses you into this family, without any experts. It is very experiential by design. In the end as filmmakers we chose the path to let the audience sit with the situation. I was very excited that Draper went back to that community and reported on these very current and important topics.”

Moyer and Toensing, who are also husband and wife, started the film project in 2012 when Moyer was a Knight Fellow at Ohio University. While filming food distribution at a church, Moyer was approached by J.P. – a key character in "INHERITANCE:" – eager to tell his story. After listening to J.P. talk about his heroin addiction, trauma, prison, and a search for redemption, Moyer made a short film telling his story. Amy was the second camera on the project.

“We found ourselves on the frontlines of the opioid crisis in America,” said Moyer. “We spent time with J.P., his family, and his community, and realized the issue was far more complex than the devastation wrought by one drug. We discovered that communities that bore the brunt of economic decline now faced inherited poverty, joblessness, abuse, addiction, and hopelessness. At the core, it seemed, was a cycle of intergenerational trauma and mental health problems underlying America’s substance use disorder crisis."

In 2016, the two met J.P.’s 12-year-old cousin, Curtis. Both describe Curtis as bright, captivating, and hopeful in a family where every adult battled addiction. Curtis’s six-year journey to adulthood became the story the filmmakers wanted to tell to let viewers ask themselves: What if I were Curtis?

“We wanted people to examine several questions: Could I forge a path different from my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, – and cousins like J.P.? Is it realistic, let alone fair, to expect a kid like Curtis to ‘pull themselves up by the bootstraps?’” said Toensing. “We kept our focus on Curtis’s story, with a belief that audiences would view him as representative of millions of kids in America. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that about one out of every eight kids in America grows up in homes with a substance use problem. 'INHERITANCE' does not suggest policy changes, but we passionately believe that empathy and understanding are the first spark toward change.”

“The addiction crisis is not just about one drug,” said Moyer. “It’s much larger than that. At 12, Curtis had a perspective of this fraying of the American fabric that a lot of families across the country, rural and urban, are struggling with. The film is a story about intergenerational trauma and mental health, as well as substance use disorders.”

"INHERITANCE" has won several awards including a Documentary Feature 1st Prize at the Athens International Film and Video Festival. It also has won the Bravery Award for Documentary Feature at the 2024 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival in Mammoth Lakes, CA and the Best Documentary Feature Jury Award at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

As part of the impact campaign for the film, Moyer and Toensing have 20 screening events scheduled over the next few months. They recently traveled to Capitol Hill with Curtis to meet with members of Congress to raise awareness.

To learn more about graduate programs in Visual Communication at Ohio University visit: https://www.ohio.edu/scripps-college/viscom/graduate