From 1955 to 1975, the US Army used its own soldiers as human guinea pigs in research involving powerful, mind-altering drugs. Told through exclusive footage and first-hand accounts, this is the true story of one of the darkest chapters in US history.
Self
Self, Investigative Journalist; Narrator
On Valentine's Day, 1993, Caveh Zahedi decided to ingest 5 grams (a very large dose) of hallucinogenic mushrooms. For the first time in his mushroom-taking history, he had an experience of "divine possession," in which he felt that a divine being took possession of his body and spoke through him, in a voice that was not his, and with knowledge that he himself did not possess. He later tried several times to repeat the experience. I WAS POSSESSED BY GOD is the documentary record of one such attempt.
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.
Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a "windtalker" - one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.
Shows children various reasons why they need to resist peer pressure, refuse drugs, and refuse to follow the crowd just to fit in
Laosan, a young family man, spends all his time smoking opium. For his community, lost in the heart of the Laotian jungle, opium farming is the only way to survive. But opium is also the poison that puts men to sleep and kills their desires.
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
In the mid-1960s, wealthy debutant Edie Sedgwick meets artist Andy Warhol. She joins Warhol's famous Factory and becomes his muse. Although she seems to have it all, Edie cannot have the love she craves from Andy, and she has an affair with a charismatic musician, who pushes her to seek independence from the artist and the milieu.
Tongue-in-cheek look at 20-something singles clubbing and partying in L.A. Voice-over narration, charts and graphs, and visits to a research laboratory punctuate the story of a single night when groups of friends go out, drink alcohol, take drugs, dance and talk, and look for someone to go home with.
An exploration of the making of b-movie sci-fi cult classic "The Creeping Terror" and its con-man director Art "A.J." Nelson/Vic Savage.
Jeppy Bass is the story of a college student's struggles to make his thesis short film, entitled 'Damn Fine Cup'. After getting a behind-the-scenes look into the efforts taken to produce the film, we get a brief glimpse into the dark psyche of the filmmaker and perhaps the intentions behind the film.
From ayahuasca retreats to ketamine therapy, celebrities and scientists alike explore the healing powers and potential pitfalls of modern-day drugs.
Marusya is 16 and, like many Russian teenagers, is determined to end her life. Then she meets her soulmate in another millennial, Kimi. They spend a decade filming the euphoria and anxiety, the happiness and misery of their youth, muzzled by a violent and autocratic regime in the midst of a “depressed Russia”. This film is a cry from the heart, a tribute to an entire silenced generation.
Kevin Jerome Everson and his collaborator Kahlil I. Pedizisai filmed the comings and goings in front of a trap house on Empire Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Loosely inspired by Andy Warhol's 1964 film "Empire," which also runs for eight hours.
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Based on intense research - and seen through different realities, that of those who study it, that of those who try to contain it and that of those who live in it -, the film opens a debate about the largest and most impacting scene of crack use in an open area of the world: Cracolândia, in São Paulo. The work analyzes the causes of this evil and its progressions, in addition to the combat tactics already carried out in São Paulo, opening a parallel with those applied in other countries.
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.