Hey Elektronauts, I helped produce an ayahuasca documentary in 2023 and it was finally released. If this breaks rules of self-promotion I apologize, I’m not clear on the rules here.
I think it is somewhat relevant because of the soundtrack, which we managed to get some awesome artists on. The list: Ella Zwietnig, Colleen, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Laurie Spiegel, Silver Mt. Zion, and France Jobin.
Anyways, here it is if it’s allowed. It’s got some intense parts for the ceremonies and the rest is the details of the shaman’s life
With all the “heterodox” psychedelic podcast bros and billionaire CEOs playing neoshaman, drinking “raw water” to enthrall sadlads, this looks interesting
If you’d literally said “yo this cool, check it” no one would have even questioned why you were sharing it, so you probably don’t need to feel any guilt surrounding the why.
On another note congratulations on the release, I’ll check it out when I have a chance, sounds cool on a couple of fronts!
Wow, that was an exciting roller coaster of a documentary. I was going to watch the Stevie Hyper D one but this was a full on action-packed blast from start to finish.
lol thanks. Yeah I think it is what you are hoping for. It’s the life of a real Peruvian shaman. No serious proselytizing about the ayahuasca and it shows what a shaman’s actual life is like (while also making you feel like you’re tripping during the ceremonies). It’s a weird one but relatively balanced tone
Thanks Shiggin! I respect this forum a lot and don’t want to spam. I appreciate the kind words.
I enjoy how it does straddle the chemistry, recreational culture and black market capitalist industry (and its effects worldwide), at least in the time allotted.
Nice! glad you liked it. Yeah it is not paced like a normal documentary. Slow and then tense and then serene. The soundtrack the director picked caries some weird but good energy
I don’t know DnB but this Stevie Hyper D documentary looks cool. I was thinking of posting the doc to DogsonAcid since there’s all the crossover with electronic dance scenes and psychedelia
Yes! I love Hamilton Morris. I think watching him inhale some kind of rare elemental gas in a shady warehouse dock was the last I’d seen from him. I will see if we can get the director interviewed by him, that would be a dream
Ayahuasca is a medicine for all if they choose… All includes CEOs And Podcast Bros… I´m actually happy they choose to take it rather than a less revealing experience I would say its more helpful than not.
Not the venue but it is very obvious that it objectively does not in all cases improve the world based on its more influential users.
This is why I appreciate the ritual users and not the self-important dudes looking for yet another reason to self-ascribe as “enlightened”. Whether it’s mushrooms, DMT, Ayahuasca, or LSD, the experience can only do so much.
This documentary isn’t about the awful imperialist billionaires emotionally immune to indigenous medicine, thankfully.
Yeah I agree nothing I can think of works for everyone… But not everyone I know that is successful and rich feels extra self important your just stereotyping I´m guessing you don’t really know a ton of Extremely rich people I´m not saying I do but I have met a few and I would say 80 percent of them were decent down to earth folks that have had a lot of success mostly the self driven ones were the coolest.
Yes I can think of some podcasters that are pretty ridiculous with there fever towards Enlightenment that make it a bit hard to Stomach there we can agree.
looking forward to watching later! super cool you got laurie spiegel on there. my dmt experiences have been the most revealing out of all the psychs i’ve tried, and ayahuasca is definitely on my short list. cheers
Oh man, did they get fired/arrested? It did seem very shady lol
Thanks!
Hell yeah. I read The Teachings of Don Juan back when I was making San Pedro tea - Mescalito is real!
I was shocked at who we got on the soundtrack. I think the subject matter opened a lot of doors and the artists were extremely generous. I don’t know much about the contracts but I think the songs were pretty much donated. Laurie Spiegel was a shocking one to get
I have done Ayahuasca myself but I’m on the cusp of considering it. I’ve got kids and a busy schedule. Everyone seems to experience explicit communication from a perceived entity. Something I have not run across in any drug experience myself
yes, there’s certainly an intelligence and awareness there that i have never experienced elsewhere. other psychs will demand you follow their trajectory, where on dmt (smoked), i felt like i had a real and immediate say on where and how things went. i imagine on ayahuasca, the level of surrender is increased significantly though.
when i was younger and full of gumption my video producer homie and i wanted to make a documentary on ibogaine clinics in north america, different lane but similar, super cool that you were apart of this doc!
looking forward to watching this, my abnormal psych professor had a shaman come in and talk to us in my last year of college. she shared a whole lot of interesting information, im hoping this doc will bring back some memories from that class
That would be awesome! I have read of ibogaine helping a lot of alcoholics. I think the director was considering ibogaine as a topic but was concerned the ceremonies would not be as exciting to watch
I think if you enjoyed an academic angle on psychedelics/shamans this documentary will give you a lot to mull over. It is not like a “woo-woo drugs will change your life!” kind of movie, but it is still trippy. Maybe scary enough to warn people who are feeling cavalier
Production-wise, were you involved in the scoring?
For guest artists, how did you communicate back and forth about desired needs and tone? Were there any interesting notes?
Obviously I have a complicated relationship with psychedelic speakers but love magic and ritual, artists like Coil and some current performance collaborators do inhabit their own individual shamanic spaces.
Were there any inspirations you had in music curation, any existing work you had in mind when describing what you wanted or in exchanging notes with the artists?
- Mescalito is real!