Saving Jackie is a film that I started when I was a sophomore in college at Wright State University . At age 20, I had been estranged from my mother for many years. I missed being close with her and was ready to rebuild our relationship.

During a phone conversation, my mother told me that she was “tired of messing up” and it was “time to save myself; it’s time to save Jackie…” At the time when my mother said those words, I was moved by her powerful statement and wanted to make a film about her healing process. And so I did. Three years later, I made a documentary short about my mother’s drug addiction and our relationship.

SYNOPSIS

 “We were filled with that drug, but little did I know that drug was going to take over my entire life and snuff me out as an individual.”

                                                                      -Jackie Burks

This quote is from the documentary short “Saving Jackie,” an intimate portrait of an American middle-class family destroyed by the abusive nature of drug addiction. Jackie – a 42year old recovering crack-cocaine addict – takes an intense look at her life. Through the course of the film she begins to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the deterioration of her relationships with her two daughters, Selena and Lorita Burks.

Set in Cleveland, Ohio, Jackie’s two young daughters are forced to live in a drug-ravaged house in fear of what each day may bring, and hoping that their love for their mother will help her turn away from crack-cocaine and abusive men. With their father Henry out of their lives, Selena and Lorita are subjected to poor living standards in a house without food, electricity or running water. The eldest of two daughters, Selena, becomes Lorita’s surrogate mother at the age of ten. After failed attempts of selling crack to raise money for her sister and herself, Selena revolts against her mother. As a result, Selena and her sister are placed in foster care, thus becoming increasingly disconnected from their mother Jackie.  

“Saving Jackie” examines the long-term side effects of abusive behaviors on family relationships. Daughter/director Selena A. Burks documents her family’s healing process over the course of three-and-a-half years by capturing life changing events – such as Lorita’s senior prom and her own college graduation – through the use of candid interviews and family photographs.

Selena has devoted her time to showing her film to churches, drug rehabilitation centers, youth groups, high schools and universities. She believes that the message of forgiveness that is conveyed in “Saving Jackie” is important to be seen by all.  


“Saving Jackie” premiered at the 2005 Sundance International Film Festival and was also an official Selection of the 2005 Cleveland International Film Festival, 2005 Urbanworld Film Festival, First Annual Black Eyed Susan Film Festival, the 2005 Black Harvest Film Festival and the 2005 African American Film Marketplace.