Searching for Drug Peace is Chaotic @Hot Docs 2026

There was a good handful of films during this year’s edition of Hot Docs where the documentaries weren’t conventional. Searching for Drug Peace from director Alisher Balfanbayev happens to be one of those films where it felt like you were watching a movie. The film focuses on the life of Dana Larsen, an activist who runs a drug operation in Vancouver. With the opioid crisis killing the city from within, Larsen has taken the war on drugs into his own hands by setting up a few shops. Larsen believes that the criminalization of drugs isn’t working and comes down hard to those who use them.

Searching for Drug Peace shows the systems in place of Dana Larsen who runs both the Coca Leaf Cafe and the Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. He goes beyond the call of duty as he sets up a free drug testing centre called Get Your Drugs Tested because he believes that all drugs should be safe.

Now that his business licence is revoked, Larsen must do what he can to stay in business and to prevent getting raid and put out of business. Admired by many not only in Vancouver but all over the world, Dana Larsen is someone to contend with because he means business. Especially when it comes to providing safe recreational drugs.

By avoiding archival material and conventional interviews, Searching for Drug Peace adopts a cinéma vérité style. The documentary unfolds chronologically which allows the audience to immerse into the journey of Dana Larsen. It feels like you are watching a scripted narrative rather than a traditional documentary.

It is because there is so much intention in what Larsen and his associates are doing with the Coca Leaf Cafe. They are not wasting their time on supplying bad drugs to people. Rather, they are presenting themselves as trustworthy and reliable drug dealers. Larsen’s crew don’t talk about one another in a negative light; rather, they do and say things in real time, which sharpens the focus of the film.

Searching for Drug Peace keeps the audience on their toes because just like Dana Larsen and their crew, they are in survival mode. Their stores are well-manicured like a cannabis dispensary with so much information when it comes to taking mushrooms, DMT or acid. Also heavily guarded when it comes to locking their supply of drugs, and of course, the money.

With a license revoked because they applied as a party outlet supplier for their business, Dana Larsen is constantly on the lookout. Larsen realizes that at any time he could be shut down by the government or raided by cops because it is considered to be an illegal business. So for people like Dana Larsen and his employees, there is a sense of urgency to their character, which is documented well through the lens of director Alisher Balfanbayev. So there is no time to do this conventionally, but rather organically.

What FERNTV liked about this cinema vérité approach is that it glamorizes Dana Larsen’s actions, almost like a drug kingpin, like Scarface. The audience here is rooting for the bad guy, and in this instance, it’s Dana Larsen. He is loved by many but looked down upon for running an illegal drug operation in a pocket of Vancouver. When he does get raided by the cops, and they take all his supply, it is heart-wrenching. It’s because the cops want to get rid of the supply and not bother with charging Dana Larsen for his actions.

This is the irony of the government, who are not concerned about people dying on the streets from unsafe and illicit drugs. Rather, they are more concerned about figures like Dana Larsen, who are trying to make a better difference. This is why we root for the bad guy, and this is why we always will.