Home- The Project
- The Film
- The Book
- The Online Experience
- The Team
- Store
- Follow us
- Ayahuasca news
- Project News
- Contact
-
The Project
- A crossmedia exploration of ayahuascaAyahuasca is a visionary brew of indigenous origin. The Ayahuasca Project tells the story of this transformative medicine from different angles, across multiple platforms, including a documentary film, a book, and a number of online experiences.THE FILM
The Jungle Prescription is a documentary film created for a global television (including the CBC’s Nature of Things with David Suzuki) and cinema audience. It introduces ayahuasca and its encounter with the West - as played out through the story of two doctors, their patients, a team of scientists, and group of indigenous shamans.THE BOOK
The Chacra Diaries is an in-depth look at ancient Amerindian medical systems, as told through the personal journey of Jeronimo M.M.’s decade-long immersion into ayahuasca culture. Part essay, part travelogue, the book tells the story of how the author came to be both scientist and lab rabbit in his own study of what traditional cultures know - and we have forgotten - regarding the most potent plant medicines in the world.
THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE
Incorporating user-generated content, interactive personality profiling techniques, the latest HMTL5 video technologies, social networks, and more, The Online Experience will attempt to give a creative response to the question: What is ayahuasca like?
The Ayahuasca Project is a labour of love developed over the course of ten years of research, incorporating long periods of travel in the Amazon region. We have gathered an outstanding and unique collection of footage, stories, experiences and contacts in the complex and multifaceted ayahuasca world.Click below to be kept up to date about the project
-
The Film
- The Jungle PrescriptionThe Jungle Prescription tells of ayahuasca, a visionary Amazonian brew of indigenous origin and its encounter with the West, as played out through the story of two doctors. The first, Dr. J. Mabit, runs a legendary detox centre deep in the Peruvian jungle, in partnership with indigenous healers. The second, Dr. Gabor Maté, is risking his reputation trying to establish a similar program in Canada. Through the intimate stories of these doctors and their patients, we see how an ancient medicine causes cathartic, life-changing insight, and we witness the commitment of people who have devoted their whole lives to applying this medicinal knowledge.Shot on full-frame cameras with 35mm lenses, its dreamlike visual treatment creates a world of uncommon beauty.The trailerThe Jungle Prescription stars: a very special group of plants, the patients of Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Jacques Mabit, Humberto Piaguaje, the UMIYAC organization of traditional healers, Jordi Riba, Josep María Fábregas, Vancouver, Barcelona, the Amazon Jungle... and the deepest recesses of our sub-conscious minds.Produced By Nomad FilmsAfter one year shooting in Canada, Perú, Colombia, and Spain, the film is now in postproduction. A one hour TV show, which was broadcasted by the CBC´s The Nature of Things.Click below to be kept up to date about the project
-
The Book
- The Chacra DiariesA Ten Year Exploration into Amazonian Shamanism
What happens when a man goes into the jungle to find himself, but finds something unexpected: an ancient key to human health that we have forgotten about in the modern world? The Chacra Diaries tell the deeply personal story of Jeronimo M.M.’s decade of research into ancient Amerindian medical systems and how they changed his life.
Deep in the Amazon jungle, ancient shamanic traditions still survive. We already know a lot about how shamanism utilizes the most powerful plants from the world´s most biodiverse ecosystem. But Jeronimo encountered a concept of human health that defies Western notions of diagnosis, illness, and healing.
To the West, these Amazonian practices seem profoundly strange and even superstitious, yet one has only to put oneself in their hands, like Jeronimo did, to know that it works. This is how Jeronimo came to be both researcher and subject, scientist and lab rabbit in his own study of what Amazonian societies still know about the planet’s most potent plant medicines. We call them drugs, but they use them to cure.
Jeronimo's book is told in a first person, immediate and intimate form. His struggles, his worries, and his personal realizations about the shape of his own life help illuminate the world of Amerindian shamanism he has swum through. The intrepid Spaniard's journey is timely. More than ever, Western readers are hungry to find solutions to the ennui that seems to permeate our world.
Selected passages from the book will be shared online as the book is finished.
Click below to be kept up to date about the project
-
The Online Experience
- What is ayahuasca like?The online presence for the project will be a constantly unfolding and community inspired journey for the user.Reflecting a decade of information gathering and fieldwork, the online project will attempt to give a creative response to the question: What is ayahuasca like? Using user generated content, personality profiling techniques, the latest HMTL5 video technologies, social networks, and much much more, in two parts:A message machine for the ayahuasca experience that blends powerful footage, user generated content, and data visualizations.A hypervideo experience that mimics the introspective insights of the ayahuasca experience by giving users an interactive reflection of their personalities.Below is an demo edit of the message machine, where users will be invited to talk about their ayahuasca experienceClick below to be kept up to date about the project
-
The Team
- Meet the teamFILMMAKERS
Mark Ellam:
A director and cinematographer, Mark Ellam helped create THE TAKE directed by Avi Lewis and written by Naomi Klein (AFI Best Feature Documentary), BIG SUGAR (Prix Gemeaux & Golden Sheaf Award for best documentary - going undercover to shoot Haitian plantation workers suffering under conditions of slavery), EMPZ 4 LIFE (Allan King's final film on Black youth in a high-risk community - nominated for both Best Cinematography and the Donald Brittain Award - Gemini Awards of 2007), A Promise To The Dead (Peter Raymont's film, winner of the Gemini/Donald Brittain award for Best Documentary and shortlisted for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary). Mark was associate director and cinematographer on RIP: A Remix Manifesto - winner of 2008's Volkskrant Audience Award at IDFA and was the first open source documentary produced for theatrical release by the National Film Board of Canada, the Doc Channel and EYESTEELFILM. Also with EYESTEELFILM, Mark has been shooting Yung Chang's next feature project as well as co-directing ATANASOFF: the Forgotten Father of the First Computer with Dan Cross - executive produced by Peter Wintonick.
Jeronimo M.M. A digital storyteller, researcher, and interaction designer with extensive knowledge of the world of Ayahuasca. He has worked in the area were video meets the Internet for over a decade, as consultant on user experience, Internet video, and online communities and for clients including Canal+, Tele5, and Telefónica/EmociónTV. He co-directed, wrote, and produced the 30 minute documentary on the Brazilian Ayahuasca Churches that was commissioned and broadcast by Spain's largest TV network (Tele5) in 2004. He has traveled extensively through South America, researching Ayahuasca uses, and has lectured internationally on Ayahuasca tourism and the appropriation of indigenous knowledge. He keeps a blog, curates a page of ayahuasca related news, and is currently preparing a book about his experiences
Robin McKenna:
Robin McKenna began making films with La Course destination monde (1997-98), the Radio-Canada series that sent young people around the world with a video camera, making creative, point-of-view documentaries. Her 1-hour doc "The Great War Experience" won the Founders Award at Yorkton Film Festival in 2007. She worked as Second Camera on The Take with Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein (American Film Institute Best Feature Doc 2004), and was cinematographer on City of Borders, about a gay bar in Jerusalem where Israelis and Palestinians find common ground (Berlinale/Hot Docs 2009). Her television series directing work has aired on networks in Canada, the US and UK. She is currently finishing a 1-hour doc for Radio-Canada, “70 ans...et dans le placard?”
NOMAD FILMS
Mark Johnston: Executive Producer
After 23 years in the documentary film environment, Executive Producer Mark Johnston has had producer or director credits on more than 50 films. He has produced award-winning docs such as In the Shadow of a Saint (CBC/BBC/IKON Netherlands/SBS Australia) and The Man Who Could be King (CBC and National Geographic International) - both of these films were nominated for Donald Brittain awards in Canada, and directed films such as Beetalker (ARTE/CBC's Nature of Things).
Amanda Handy: Producer
Producer Amanda Handy is an industry veteran with years of both drama and documentary TV and film experience. Having worked in both production and as head of business affairs for several large production companies on everything from series, movies of the week and features, she brings a diverse set of skills to the table. Amanda most recently produced Empire of the Word, a four hour series about the impact of reading and writing on human history and shot in fifteen countries (TVO, TFO, SBS Australia, TG4 Ireland and many others). Another recent title was the theatrically released feature documentary, When We Were Boys (Official Selections for Hot Docs, Beijing and True- False). Nomad's feature drama, Act of Dishonour, directed by Nelofer Pazira, was released in theatres in summer 2010. The film was shot in 35mm (by Atom Egoyan's DOP, Paul Sarossy) on location in Tajikistan with an Afghan cast.Click below to be kept up to date about the project
-
Store
- The story continues!The Ayahuasca Project is a labour of love developed over the course of ten years of research, with long periods of travel in the Amazon region. We have gathered an outstanding and unique collection of footage, stories and experiences in the complex and multifaceted ayahuasca world.
We made a short version of the film for Canada´s CBC, The Jungle Prescription, and we ran out of money. Thanks to 2 successful crowdsorcing rewards, one in kickstarter and one in indiegogo we raised funds finish the editing and final post-production of the feature-length documentary we set out to make.We prepared some very special rewards for those who supported the project: Ayahuasca CDs, t-shirts, books, and DVDs of the film are still available. Contact us if you are interestedSOME REWARDS YOU CAN GET
SONGS OF AYAHUASCA CD
This CD has been specially compiled from our personal recordings. It includes our favorite vegetalista icaros from Perú, Yage songs from Colombia, hymns from the Daime and Barquinha churches in Brazil, and UDV chamadas. Nothing like it exists anywhere. The CD comes with a booklet with liner notes, pictures, and translations of the lyrics.
THE JUNGLE INSIGHT T-SHIRT
THE AYAHUASCA CONVERSATIONS BOOK
We have collected hours of fascinating conversations with the world´s most knowledgeable ayahuasca minds, from shamans to scientists. This book is pack full with information you won´t find anywhere else.
PODER VERDE! CD
.
A very special mix of the radio sounds of the jungle. A selection of Amazonian Cumbia grooves, mixed with real ads that travelling shamans broadcast in local Amazonian radio stations. Full of outrageous claims, reverb drenched voices, boasting DJs, and green grooves. Take a listen! http://soundcloud.com/you/sets
-
Follow us
- Stay up to dateThe best way to get the latest news about the ayahuasca project is to LIKE our page in Facebook
-
Wall
- Fascinating
- Psychedelic Spirituality Podcast - Singing to the Plants with Steve Beyer
- ICEERS Foundation's insight: HBO program featuring Ibogaine use in Neo-Bwiti ritual context offered by ex-drug addict Dimitri Muganis... starts at minute 15 of the video.
- Treat Big Pharma Like Big Tobacco
- The Doctor’s Dilemma
- The Defined Line Between Coca and Cocaine
- Ben Lee (Australian Musician) supports ICEERS...
- An ayahuasca metaphor hidden inside a big budget hollwyood western? Yup
- Shamanism - Other Worlds - Ayahuasca Documentary
- At last, a good English summary of this important book. For sale here https://shop.iceers.org/shop/ayahuasca-y-salud-ayahuasca-health/
- Ayahuasca on NPR
- Vicent Guillem, doctor en Bioquímica | Onirogénia
- Maternal and developmental toxicity of ayahuasca in Wistar rats - Oliveira - 2010 - Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology - Wiley Online Library
- A never-aired animation of Robin's Quivers ayahuasca experience. As offensive as you can imagine, coming from Howard Stern
- A Brief Guide to Embodied Cognition: Why You Are Not Your Brain
-
Posts
Kickstarter Update #3: Amazonian Grooves and 60 per cent!
Let me take you back to the early 60s in Perú. A man called Henry Delgado frontman of a band called Los Destellos writes “La Ardillita”. It was a huge hit, and singlehandely defined a new musical style: La Cumbia Peruana.
Take a listen
Is that groovy or what?
The new sound blended the tropical and rock styles by substituting the accordion -centerpiece of the Colombian Cumbia- with the electric guitar. To our ears the result wouldn´t be out of place in a Tarantino film
Out of that new style sprang Cumbia Oriental, or Poder Verde, the Amazonian variation of the sound, which can still be heard booming out of radios, bars, motokarts, and taxis all over the jungle. It is an infectious groove full of local flavor, including references to indigenous tribes, mythological figures, and even ayahuasca.
The most famous ayahuasca song of the genre is without a doubt, the great classic “Vacilando con ayahuasca” by the veterans Juaneco y su Combo. Although the song was composed in 1972 the band is still going. Here is a recent video which includes Shipibo print shirts, go-go dancers, and indigenous shamans!
Crazyness!
Are you still wondering why we have always been unrepentant fans of the style at The Ayahuasca Project Headquarters?
So we wanted to do a postmodern homage to it. For that we brought experimental DJ and sound composer Akasha. We gave him a selection of our favorite Poder Verde tunes, together with a truly rare cultural artifact: A collection of real radio advertisements from the jungle. The ads are for itinerant shamans that travel form city to city, in a real life jungle medicine show.
The combination is… well, listen for yourself
Amazing!
Then Akasha´s partner, LoSuper, cooked up a very psychedelic cover for the mix
Like it?
Up to know the mix was only available as a bonus to the Combo Packages, but we´ve decided to make it available to everyone.
If you´d like your own just add $10 to your current pledge and let us know you want a copy!
PROJECT STATUS UPDATE
We are now 60% funded! 334 wonderful people have made it possible. We have 14 days to raise approx. $15,000. We are pushing on! Please continue to spread the word, in facebook, in twitter, blogs, via email, we need to world to know!
With our sincerest gratitude, and our best wishes for the new year.
-Jero, Mark, & Robin
More info about cumbia oriental
Support the project here
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for latest news
See the Official Film Site
Kickstarter Update #2: We broke the 50% line!
We have been told that if you make it to 50% you will make it in kickstater. Today we broke the 50% line. Thank you so much to all of you who continue to pledge and support us.
We have very intense days ahead of us. 19 days to raise $19000. As you can see in the graph, at the current rate of growth we´ll be between 10 and 20% short of the goal by the end the campaign. As you know kickstarter is all or nothing. If we don´t make we loose it all. We are confident we can do it, but we are going to need your help for that extra push. Please spread the word! Email, share, tweet the link with anyone you know who might be interested. Continue to recommend and let us know of any blogs/sites that you think we should contact. We need to spread the word further.
NEW REWARD
We are celebrating the occasion by launching a super special reward: Become part of the team and accompany us on the last shoot of the documentary!
Only 3 slots are available. Get them while you can
MASTER CLASS - The Jungle Prescription has been praised as “a master class in documentary cinematography “.
Want to learn how we did it?
For fifteen years, Mark Ellam has shot feature documentaries for theatrical and international release. In this special invitation, you accompany our crew and gain access to a learning experience otherwise unavailable.
With this reward, you accompany us on our final shoot. Experience some extraordinary locations, meet some of the documentary´s characters, immerse yourself in the intimate process of filmmaking - and get to see it all from behind the lens.
Whether you just want to come along for the ride, or you wish to learn more about the craft of constructing scenes from reality, advance your knowledge of camera work and lighting, or consider a career shift from one métier to another, you will be part of the team, and be personally coached in whichever aspects of documentary filmmaking you are inclined. This truly unique experience is a limited offering & everything you will never learn in a film school of any kind.Reward also includes credit on the film (and IMDB) the ART PACKAGE (3 signed lithographs) and the SUPER COMBO PACKAGE (book, DVD, t-shirt, Songs of Ayahuasca and Poder Verde! CDs). (Travel expenses not included)
With our sincerest gratitude, and best wishes,
-Jero, Mark, & Robin
Suppor the project here
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for latest news
See the Official Film Site
- Kickstarter update 1: First 5 weeks.
The past 5 weeks since we launched the Kickstarter campaign have been a whirlwind of activity. Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.
We are looking for funding to finish the feature length version of the documentary which will not just be longer :-) but more free, more poetic, and expand on a number of characters and storylines that were left unexplored in the 43 min version. We have some big surprises waiting. Check out the video for sneak preview. We just need a little push to be able to do it, hence the kickstarter campaign.
We have prepared a very special collection of rewards (DVDs of the film, books, Jungle insight tshirts, and more) for those who pledge their support. Take a look (aquí en español)
The entire crowdfunding process is new to us, so we have made a few mistakes along the way. In spite of it all it seems to be working! It´s been amazing to see the pledges come from all over the world, and to hear the stories behind some of them. Inspiring! We are so encouraged by many of the messages we have received. So far 250 wonderful people have generously pledged their support to the project. Others have given us invaluable advice, time, and effort. Yet others have shared it with thousands in facebook, twitter, etc. THANK YOU ALL! You are making this film possible. We have 21 days left to go and we are 44% funded. We are almost at $18000!
We are preparing a grand finale for the last 3 weeks of the campaign, with new rewards, sneak previews, and surprises. Our first announcement, to coincide with the Holiday season, is a new reward that some of you have been asking for:
The Ayahuasca Project gift certificate.
Do you want to send a Jungle Prescription DVD, T-shirt, or any other reward as a gift to someone else? Now you can.
How does it work?
1 - Below is the list of gifts, pick any combination of them that you like
(higher value rewards are also available as gift certificate!)
2 - Click on Gift Certificate reward (or increase your current pledge by the proper amount.)
3 - Drop us a message with the list of gifts as well as the name, address, email address of the recipient.
3 - We will send that person a personalized email presenting the gifts, followed by an envelope with handmade gift certificate with a dedication from you (followed, of course, by the presents!)
4 - You will be making a double gift, a gift to the recipient, and a gift to this film.
With our sincerest gratitude, and best wishes,
-Jero, Mark, & Robin
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for latest news
See the Official Film Site
The Jungle Prescription will screen at MAPS 25th anniversary conference
We have been invited to screen The Jungle Prescription during MAPS 25th anniversary conference: Cartographie Psychedelica. We are honored to be part of celebrating the work of an organization whose missions aligns so closely with our own intentions for making the film. If you are going to be in Oakland between drop by and say hi!
There will be 2 screenings:
Saturday, Dec. 10 6:30 - 7:30 Room 208Monday, Dec. 12 5:30 - 7:00 Jr. Ballroom 1 & 2For those who can´t make it, presale DVDs are available for a limited time through our kickstarter campaignKeep an eye on our Facebook group for latest news
See the Official Film Site
Next broadcast: Nov 20th CBC News Netwok
The Jungle Prescription will air tomorrow, sunday, Nov 20th at 6pm ET in the CBC News Network. People inside Canada can also see the film online at this link.
For those outside Canada, DVDs are available through our kickstarter campaign
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for latest news
See the Official Film Site
Today is the day!
After 10 years of work The Jungle Prescription will broadcast today at 8PM EST in the CBC´s The nature of things. See what the major newspapers are talking about. After a news report about the documentary was posted online on Sunday, Dr. Gabor Maté received a letter form the Canadian Ministry of Health threatening persecution if he continued to work with ayahuasca… Don´t miss the rest of the story today!
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other countries and territories outside of Canada.
See the Official Film Site for The Jungle Prescription.
Media Alert: Doctor Gabor Maté ordered by Health Canada to stop
Doctor Gabor Maté ordered by Health Canada to stop sessions treating drug addicts with ayahuasca, an ancient Amazonian medicine
The full story of Mate’s work told in:
The Jungle Prescription
a documentary on CBC’s Nature of ThingsThursday, November 10th, 2011, 8pm EST
Vancouver’s Dr. Gabor Maté, who has used a traditional Amazonian tea to help drug addicts has been ordered by Health Canada on November 7th, to end the treatments or face criminal prosecution. Dr. Maté had been using ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant-based tea, to help uncover painful memories in the addicts. Re-considering these memories may help the patients control or stop their addictive behaviour.
“Naturally I will have to comply with the regulations as I received them, and I intend to,” Maté said. “It’s not a big personal loss for me because it’s a small part of what I do. But it’s a loss for the people who can benefit from this work and we have people whose life could be saved by it.”
Dr. Gabor Maté believe in what some may see as a revolutionary idea: to treat addicts with compassion. His work as the resident doctor in Vancouver’s Portland Hotel - a last-chance destination for lifelong drug abusers - has been courageous, but incredibly frustrating. Maté hears of an ancient medicine beyond his imaginings: one that could provide his patients with a solution. Its name is ayahuasca: the vine of the souls. Deep in the Amazon jungle, French doctor Jacques Mabit is using this medicine to treat hardcore addicts. Mabit runs a detox centre in the Amazon (Takiwasi or “The House That Sings”), using the plants and methods of traditional medicine. Ayahuasca is a visionary formula that unlocks emotional memory; causing life-changing catharsis in those who drink it. Success rates for curing addicts at Dr. Mabit’s detox centre are quadruple the average. Inspired by Mabit’s centre, Mate will risk his career trying to establish a similar program in Canada.
Since the publication of his award-winning book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Gabor Mate has been one of Canada’s leading thinkers on addiction and its deeper causes. The experience of making the film has had a profound impact on him: “As a physician all too aware of the limitations and narrowness of Western medicine, I have learned much from working with this plant. The Jungle Prescription took me far physically, but even further in the spiritual realm where our deepest humanity resides. The plant, and the experience with the plant, is no panacea. There are no panaceas. But as an opening to human possibility, even in the face of lifelong trauma and desperation, it offers much. Seeing people open to themselves, even temporarily, has been a teaching and an inspiration.”
Directed and photographed by Mark Ellam, the film is the result of a ten-year journey by the filmmakers deep into the Amazonian rainforest, to understand what lies at the heart of traditional medicine. Ellam’s unique cinematic vision has helped to create a number of award-winning films for cinema and television, including The Take(directed by Avi Lewis and written by Naomi Klein), Big Sugar(Prix Gemeaux and Golden Sheaf Award for best documentary), Empz 4 Life (Allan King’s final film), A Promise To The Dead(shortlisted for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary). Mark was associate director and cinematographer on RIP: A Remix Manifesto– winner of the Volkskrant Audience Award at IDFA and the first open-source documentary for theatrical release by the National Film Board of Canada, the Doc Channel and EYESTEELFILM.
Since1997, Nomad Films has produced factual programming for film and television that focuses on a wide range of compelling stories about social and political change, adventure, the environment, the arts, indigenous culture and science. Recent titles include: Disfarmer, (TVO, AVRO Netherlands, SVT Sweden and SBS Australia), Empire of the Word, (the epic television series about the history of reading, TVO, TFO SBS Australia, TG4 Ireland) and the feature documentary, When We Were Boys(official selection at Hot Docs 2009 and distributed in theatres by KinoSmith).
Details here. Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other countries and territories outside of Canada.
See the Official Film Site for The Jungle Prescription
- Breaking news: The Ministry of Health steps in
After a news report about the documentary was posted online on Sunday, Dr. Gabor Maté received a letter form the Canadian Ministry of Health threatening persecution if he continued to work with ayahuasca… Don´t miss the rest of the story tomorrow, Nov 10, 8pm, in the CBC´s The Nature of Things.
Details here. Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other countries and territories outside of Canada.
See the Official Film Site for The Jungle Prescription
The Jungle Inside
Dr. Maté wants to change the way we consider and treat addiction in the developed world. In his view, we all suffer from addiction: from cocaine to worry, from tobacco to martyrdom, each of us has something to be healed. Ground Zero for this new treatment regime is his program in British Columbia. His plan is to create the first integrated program in North America: one that combines an elite team of traditional healers and psychotherapists, using ayahuasca as a catalyst for change. That is, assuming the authorities don’t arrest him first.
Don´t miss the rest of the story Nov 10, 8pm, in the CBC´s The Nature of Things. Details here
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other countries and territories outside of Canada.
See the Official Film Site for The Jungle Prescription
The jungle insight
Dr. Gabor Mate has been one of Canada’s leading thinkers on addiction and its deeper causes. The experience of making the film has had a profound impact on him: “As a physician all too aware of the limitations and narrowness of Western medicine, I have learned much from working with this plant. The Jungle Prescription took me far physically, but even further in the spiritual realm where our deepest humanity resides. The plant, and the experience with the plant, is no panacea. There are no panaceas. But as an opening to human possibility, even in the face of lifelong trauma and desperation, it offers much. Seeing people open to themselves, even temporarily, has been a teaching and an inspiration.”
The Jungle Prescription will air in Canada Nov 10, 8pm, in the CBC´s The Nature of Things. Don´t miss the date
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other territories.
See the Official Film Site
The jungle in sight
The Jungle Prescription shuns easy answers, challenging preconceptions about addiction and the so-called War on Drugs. This sensitive, nuanced portrait of two doctors trying to find a new way to treat their patients takes us on a powerful emotional journey.
The Jungle Prescription will air in Canada Nov 10, 8pm, in the CBC´s The Nature of Things. Don´t miss the date
Keep an eye on our Facebook group for broadcast dates on other territories.
See the Official Film Site
In 5 days: The Jungle Prescription
Don´t miss it!
Lean more Nov 10.
Will you be there?
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
Six days until broadcast
Dr. Gabor Maté has a revolutionary idea: to treat addicts with compassion. His work as the resident doctor in Vancouver’s Portland Hotel - a last-chance destination for lifelong drug abusers - has been courageous, but incredibly frustrating. Maté hears of an ancient medicine could provide his patients with a solution. Its name is ayahuasca…
Lean more Nov 10.
Will you be there?
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
Arriving to the jungle in 7 days
Dr Jacques Mabit, founder Takiwasi. is a French doctor living in the Amazon. Arriving thirty years ago in Peru with Doctors Without Borders, Dr Mabit found that the jungle already had its own doctors. Working in poor rural communities, Mabit noticed something peculiar. Patients came to him with serious conditions; he would write a prescription. Weeks later, he would meet the patient in the street and observe how their conditions had improved. When asked, they confessed they couldn’t afford the medicines he prescribed. Instead, they had gone to see the local curandero – traditional healer- and received plant treatments.
Dr. Mabit was intrigued. What was it these local curanderos knew?…
Lean more Nov 10.
Will you be there?
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
Served in 8 days
Will you be attendig?
In the past years an underground of brave western doctors have begun to use ayahausca as a therapeutic tool. We realized we could make a film that not only pays homage to the richness of indigenous knowledge, but actually shows an example of how it can be put into practice - and the mutual benefits this can bring. There are not many examples of such interchanges in our world. This is why we felt it was so important that this story gets told.
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
See the CBC Page
9 days to go
Will you be attendig?
The Jungle Prescription is a labour of love developed over the course of ten years of research, incorporating long periods of travel in the Amazon region. We have gathered an outstanding and unique collection of footage, stories, experiences and contacts in the complex and multifaceted ayahuasca world.
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
See the CBC Page
- Ten days till broadcast!
Will you be attendig?The Jungle Prescription stars: Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Jacques Mabit, Humberto Piaguaje, the UMIYAC organization of traditional healers, scientists Jordi Riba and Josep María Fábregas, Vancouver, Barcelona, the Amazon Jungle, a very special group of plants… and the deepest recesses of our subconscious minds.
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
See the CBC Page
The countdown begins!
Our ayahuasca documentary, The Jungle Prescription, will be broadcast in just 11 days by the CBC´s prestigious science show The Nature of Things.
Join the Facebook group
See the Official Film Site
See the CBC Page
- The ayahuasca project goes live
The Hot Docs Forum is the largest documentary pitch forum in North America, where filmmakers can pitch their projects to commissioning editors from the main broadcasters around the world.
We dropped our card in a Mountie Hat and won a go at it!
The ayahuasca project was given a shot at a last-minute pitch at the Forum. With less than 24 hours to prepare, we spent a sleepless night rehearsing the pitch and preparing the trailer. We arrived just in time to present… and won the audience “Cuban Hat” award for best pitch at the Forum! According to one delegate, “there was a palpable buzz in the room afterwards, for the first time in 2 days.”
We celebrated with tequila (thank you, Mexican Consulate.)Next step, follow up with broadcasters to secure the funding to finish the film…Up to this point the ayahuasca project has pretty much been under the radar in terms of internet presence. It is time to go public. After ten years pushing the project, and a year of shooting In Canada, Peru, Colombia, and Spain, we are now in postpoduction for broadcast on Canadian TV (on the CBC’s prestigious show The Nature of Things)It is time to go public. Come see! We launched a website, a new trailer, a facebook page. Stop by! see what the buzz is all about.
…and sign up if you want to be kept up to date
