Attack of the Happy People

Addicted in Afghanistan(en)

An intimate and uncompromising portrayal, filmed over a year, of the day to day struggles of a new generation of children addicted to heroin, trying to find their way in the new Afghanistan.

Life After the Oasis(en)

In 2008, feature documentary, The Oasis, shocked Australia with its gritty insight into the lives of homeless teens at a notorious youth refuge in inner city Sydney. An outpouring of social and political goodwill followed, with the then Prime Minister pledging to halve homelessness by 2020. A decade later, with social inequality and homelessness worse than ever, the original participants reflect on where their lives have taken them.

Woodstock(en)

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 Circle(en)

Produced in 1967, this black and white film is an inmate's view of Daytop, a drug treatment centre on Staten Island, New York, where addicts learn to get along without drugs. Uncompromising, often brutal group therapy sessions are designed to shake loose the excuses a victim makes for himself. The people and situations shown are authentic; only one actor was employed. The results obtained at Daytop are regarded by some psychiatrists as a breakthrough.

Like It Is(en)

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.

Don't Forget To Leave(en)

Tim Landers, a prolific songwriter and founding member of the emo/pop-punk band TRANSIT, struggled. He fought battles, often privately, with substance misuse and his own mental health needs. "Don’t Forget To Leave" paints a poignant portrait of Landers, from his early success up until the posthumous release of Weathervane by his band Cold Collective. His story is chronicled through archival footage and interviews with members of A Loss For Words, The Story So Far, Frank Turner, Man Overboard, Transit and Cold Collective, family members and mental health professionals.

Dig!(en)

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.

Perché droga(it)

This documentary intends to contribute to the analysis of the drugs problem, by studying a huge district in a peripheral area of a large city: the Mirafiori South suburb of Turin, a vast ghetto where 15.000 people live in huge 9/10-storey buildings without any social services.

I Was Possessed by God(en)

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.

Century of Smoke(en)

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.

A Sobering Story(en)

Unveiling the harsh reality of substance use in Thunder Bay, Ontario, this universally themed documentary, told through personal narratives and expert insights, exposes a lack of resources while aiming to shatter stigmas and ignite compassion for those grappling with addiction.

Dublin After Dark(en)

Documentary on the work of the Garda Síochána to combat anti-social behaviour on the streets of the capital. We hear the stories of victims of verbal and physical abuse.

Work Hard Play Hard(de)

Toad to Nowhere(en)

Two filmmakers journey to Arizona's Sonoran Desert to find bufo alvarus, a psychedelic toad. TOAD TO NOWHERE is a documentary about healing, hallucinogens, and looking within to explore the unknown.

The CEO of Sinaloa(en)

The CEO of Sinaloa takes an objective, in-depth, and original approach to the story of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the head of a violent, criminal drug empire known as the Sinaloa Cartel. We tell the story through a business lens, breaking down the business models used by the Sinaloa Cartel to become one of the wealthiest organizations on the planet. Our film will focus on cartel strategies in terms of distribution, accounting, branding, mergers and acquisitions, human resources, termination, and of course - product. But we will never lose sight of the terrible violence this organization employed to reach its success.

Down to the Bottom(en)

An unflinching look at alcohol use disorder and it’s impact. Conversations between a father and daughter.

Dust Devils(en)

A beautifully done video of Burning Man 2001, 2002 & 2003. Lots of people interviews, Center Cafe activity and extensive coverage of artist David Best and the Temple construction and burn. This documentary captures the swirling columns of dust that were created during the intense heat of the 2002 Temple burn.

Burning Man: Voyage in Utopia(en)

With a strong emphasis on founder Larry Harvey and temple artist David Best, this video expresses the scale and power of the Burning Man experience. Superb cinematography and editing are combined to make this is one of the most moving Burning Man videos ever produced.

Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn(en)

The story of Tasmanian-born actor Errol Flynn whose short & flamboyant life, full of scandals, adventures, loves and excess was largely played out in front of the camera - either making movies or filling the newsreels and gossip magazines. Tragically he was dead from the effects of drugs and alcohol by the time he was only 50 & the myths live on. But there is another side of Flynn that is less well known - his ambitions to be a serious writer and newspaper correspondent, his documentary films and his interest in the Spanish Civil War and Castro's Cuba

Pacific Vibrations(en)

Psychedelic surfer documentary. Also see http://encyclopediaofsurfing.com/entries/drugs-and-surfing