Did Leigh Film Trigger U.S. Drug Legislation?

Film-makers Shaping The Course Of History

Trusted sources speculate that the 2008 hit film Happy-Go-Lucky may have triggered recent FDA approval of ground-breaking new medication, placing director Mike Leigh among a small but influential group of film-makers that includes such luminaries as Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Errol Morris, and Krzysztof Kieslowski.

The landmark Errol Morris documentary The Thin Blue Line (1988) challenged the capital murder conviction of Randall Adams, and led to Adams' release from prison in March 1989 (Texas Monthly). A Short Film About Killing ("Krótki film o zabijaniu" Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988) contributed to Poland's 1989 moratorium on executions (The Guardian), and the Dardenne brothers' 1999 Palme d'Or recipient Rosetta inspired Belgium's "Rosetta Plan," reforming youth employment legislation in that country (European Industrial Relations Observatory).

Now it appears that Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) may have provided the impetus for U.S. lawmakers to approve new medication which offers the hope of a normal life to an estimated 20 million Americans, and relief to their long-suffering families, friends and co-workers.

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