Gordie Bailey was a freshman at the University of Colorado who died from binge drinking during a fraternity hazing only a month after arriving on campus in 2004. His untimely death spurred his parents to produce Peter Schuermann’s documentary, Haze, which is both a memorial to their son and a warning to the growing problem of heavy drinking on the nation’s college campuses.

The film includes interviews with Gordie’s friends, family, the paramedics who arrived at the scene, graphic pictures of Gordie lying face down on the floor of the frat house library and good-time home movies of Gordie as a youngster.

A doctor gives grave testimony about the effects of alcohol on the human brain and the deadly dangers of alcohol poisoning. There are reports, too, from public health officials who warn of a national binge-drinking epidemic on the nation’s campuses, with some 22 percent of students addicted to drugs or alcohol and 44 percent taking part in binge drinking. We learn that there are 700,000 alcohol-related injuries in this country each year and more than 400 deaths related to alcohol poisoning.

Oddly, the end results of some of these drinking parties are posted on Facebook pages as a sort of rite-of-passage badge of honor that encourages other young people to hoist more than a few; we are “treated” to some of these sad-looking clips. It’s not pretty, such as the sight of the eight members of two college teams vomiting into buckets during a contest to see which team could finish a case of beer first. There are shots of people crying while being lifted into ambulances; blood being washed off the streets. Sadly, it’s pointed out that young women, filled with the spirit of equality, are now trying to keep up with their male counterparts on the drinking front.

One college official sees the culture of drinking and the infantile behavior it creates as a lessening of personal responsibility in our society as the kids ignore the consequences of their actions. Instead of protesting for a cause as students did in an earlier day, we see them rioting on campus because student parties have been shut down or in response to a crackdown on underage drinking.

Between these unnerving clips and statistics, Schuermann delves into how Gordie Bailey became a statistic himself … what led up to the night of binge drinking and why no one came to his aid as he lay drunk and dying on the fraternity house floor. His mother complains that rather than receiving an apology from the frat house officials, the fraternity called in their lawyers, who warned members not to talk to anyone.

Haze is a sobering film, but it keeps making the same points over and over again. At an hour and 20 minutes, it seems about 20 minutes too long.

Haze will be shown at the Newport International Film Festival at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at Salve Regina University.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the festival box office at 22 Broadway or online at newportfilmfestival.com.

***Haze

Rated: Not rated, contains adult themes, nudity, profanity.