The Best Documentaries About Magic Mushrooms and Other Psychedelics
The Best Documentaries About Magic Mushrooms and Other Psychedelics
26
JULY, 2022
When you consider how much fresh and exciting research is coming out about how magic mushrooms interact with the brain and how they may improve society, studying everything there is to know about them becomes even more valuable.
Documentaries are one of the main ways we can begin to unlock universal acceptability in the promising realm of psychedelics. We may unearth interesting and complicated stories about psychedelics at the center of self-discovery, change, and healing via visual cinematography, rare interviews, and rigorous journalism.
Through the renaissance of scientific study, increased financing in this sector, and a wave of legal reform, there has been a welcome upsurge in new documentary films on psychedelics in recent years.
For millennia, psychedelic experiences have been a part of many indigenous and spiritual cultures. We’d like to see more documentaries about the ancient wisdom traditions that have harnessed these healing compounds for thousands of years, because there’s a noticeable pattern in documentaries that tell a recent story of psychedelics that centers on scientific developments in the West since the 1940s. We’ve compiled a selection of the best magic mushrooms films worth watching to aid you in your search for knowledge.
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The Best Documentaries About Magic Mushrooms and Other Psychedelics
A New Understanding: Science of Psilocybin
https://www.anewunderstanding.org/
A New Understanding investigates how psychedelic experiences in a controlled context might aid in the treatment of end-of-life anxiety, sadness, and physical pain in terminally sick cancer patients, bringing science and spirituality together. This film demonstrates how compounds like psilocybin can assist patients and their families in coming to grips with death by treating the full person.
The Mycology of Psilocybin Mushrooms with Paul Stamets
The book Mycology of Psilocybin Mushrooms takes a unique approach to the subject, capturing a lecture given by Paul Stamets, a well-known mycologist who specializes in the study of mushrooms. This in-depth discussion is both eye-opening and instructive — you’re learning about magic mushrooms from from the source!
Little Saints
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Saints-Eat-Mushroom-Talk/dp/B019X6317K
Little Saints follows a group of six people on their trek to Mexico to visit a shaman and participate in a fungus ritual. Each member of the group has a psychological or physical condition that they want to alleviate by indulging in psilocybin mushrooms in a ritual context. The group is led through their psychedelic experience by Mazatec shaman Nalia, who asserts that magic mushrooms help people find themselves.
Fantastic Fungi
For enthusiasts of psilocybin mushroom spores, this is a common classic in terms of mushroom documentaries. Fantastic Fungi, directed by Louie Schwartzberg, is a visually stunning video that celebrates the wonders of the fungi world and their ability to heal, nourish, and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth. We learn how psychedelics might help solve some of today’s most important problems, from curing sickness to mending the environment, via the eyes of top mycologists, writers, and many more scientists and practitioners.
Fungimentary: The Magic Mushrooms of Balingup
This lighthearted documentary went out to investigate how magic mushrooms blooming in a nearby forest were affecting a tiny Australian village. The video crew spoke with as many people as they could, including local residents, police officers, mushroom hunters, and even a professional mycologist. They used these differing viewpoints to create a bigger picture and reflect on the War on Drugs in general. Fungimentary won numerous honors for the information it provided.
Have a Good Trip
https://www.netflix.com/title/80231917
Have a Good Trip: Psychedelic Adventures is a documentary film created and written by Emmy Award-winning producer, writer, and director Donick Cary, and presented by Nick Offerman, set to be released in 2020. Celebrities give accounts about their experiences with hallucinogenic drugs in the documentary. While some people liked how the documentary raised awareness about how medicines could be used in the future to treat medical illnesses like depression and anxiety, others were unhappy with the film’s usage of comic aspects.
The Rise of the Psychadelic Truffle in Amsterdam
This is a good short but sweet documentary about magic mushrooms. The rise of the magic truffle business in the aftermath of the Dutch prohibition on magic mushrooms is explored in this documentary from the brilliant minds at VICE. They look at how the industry is transforming Amsterdam and how it has managed to avoid prohibition despite the circumstances that led to the suspension of its mushroom counterparts in the first place.
Psychonautics | A Comic’s Exploration of Psychedelics
https://www.psychonauticsfilm.com/
This is another somewhat lighthearted documentary about psychedelics from the perspective of a comedian. Stand-up comedians are forced to focus on the social zeitgeist and political climate of their day in order to filter their experiences into an amusing narrative for a possibly receptive audience. Since the first joke was spoken, the most observant and intelligent humorists have been among the most deep individuals working. To put it another way, it’s only natural for a comic to take the audience on a mental journey. Shane Mauss videos himself experimenting with as many psychoactive medications as he can. The documentary Psychonautics: A Comic’s Exploration Of Psychedelics is the outcome. After a quick introduction to Mauss and his rise in the world of stand-up comedy, the film concentrates on one substance at a time.
Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris’s Psilocybin and the Psychadelic State
Here’s another short but sweet documentary about psilocybin. Psilocybin and the Psychedelic State is a more in-depth and scholarly look at how magic mushrooms effect the mind than the others. Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, a top scientific researcher in the realm of psychedelics, will give the presentation. While it may be a little heavy on the science for some, it provides a succinct and intriguing overview of how psychedelics affect our brains and the mechanisms that underpin it. You can’t miss it if you actually want to know what’s going on.
DOSED and the Sequel DOSED 2: Psilocybin and the Art of Living
https://www.dosedmovie.com/dosed2/
Adrienne turns to psychedelic healers after years of prescription pharmaceutical opioid addiction and suicidal thoughts in Dosed, which gives a hard-hitting viewpoint on addiction. Tyler Chandler’s video has a lot of promise as a force for good, and it will definitely resonate with individuals who have struggled with addiction. The film’s sequel, Dosed 2: Psilocybin and the Art of Living, is a similarly breathtaking film.
The Mind, Explained: Psychedelics
https://www.netflix.com/watch/81062192
This 20-minute Netflix episode from the show “Explained” is narrated by actress Emma Stone and animated with whimsical animations. It delves at how psychedelic experiences might help cancer patients cope with health-related anxiety, stop smoking, and recover from treatment-resistant despair.
The Way Of The Psychonaut – Stanislav Grof’s Journey Of Consciousness
https://www.thewayofthepsychonaut.com/
Stanislav Grof, a prominent Czech-born psychiatrist and pioneer of transpersonal psychology, is the subject of The Way of the Psychonaut. The video begins with Susan Hess Logeais’ own existential crisis and goes on to show how Stan’s discoveries into non-ordinary states of consciousness have significantly affected the lives of countless others. Stan’s findings and practices extend from breathwork to spiritual investigation as a means of releasing individuals from their shadows, conflicts, and traumas.
Psychedelia
Psychedelia is a captivating documentary made by Pat Murphy that follows scientific research investigations that highlight prospective medicinal discoveries. This work analyzes the deep and life-altering insights psychedelics generate in participants, as well as the potential influence psychedelics have for mankind, using first-person narratives from patients with end-of-life concerns. We invite you to view the panel video accessible on the documentary’s website, since it was recently presented in a variety of periodicals followed by an expert panel discussion.
Neurons to Nirvana
With interviews with notable academics, authors, and psychologists including Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Julie Holland, Neurons to Nirvana delves into the history and clinical potential of five strong psychedelic drugs. The film, directed by Oliver Hockenhull and Mikki Willis, explores psychedelic substances as consciousness technologies and therapeutic tools.
Magic Medicine
Filmmaker Monty Wates was given unique access to Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research clinical trials supervised by Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, a Synthesis adviser, and Synthesis’ own main director Dr. Rosalind Watts, to answer the question, “Can magic mushrooms treat depression?” This fascinating video depicts the human suffering caused by severe depression, with very emotional images of patients’ psychedelic excursions and inspired scientists contributing to important psychedelic research.
From Shock to Awe
https://www.fromshocktoawe.com/
From Shock to Awe, a documentary by Luc Cote and Janine Sagart, presents the personal tales of two war veterans who have suffered extreme trauma. Following their transformational adventures, they seek solace from psychedelics rather than medicines, illustrating how these drugs may be utilized to treat PTSD in people and their families. This video explores basic concerns regarding the pharmaceutical business, the US judicial system, and war, in addition to human experiences.
Know Your Mushrooms
https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Mushrooms-Larry-Evans/dp/B003PURPOG
Know Your Mushrooms follows renowned mycology visionaries and enthusiasts Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans, two of the community’s most knowledgeable and unforgettably mercurial figures, on a quest for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences associated with the strange fungi. The 74-minute documentary looks at the yearly counterculture Telluride Mushroom Festival in Telluride, Colorado, as well as some of the mycologists and funghiphiles that attend. Know Your Mushrooms is more concerned with rigorous science and fine dining than with recreational tripping and the more “groovy” features of magic mushrooms and psychedelics in general.
Tawai: A Voice From The Forest
Tawai is a search for reconnection that takes place from Borneo’s ancient rainforest to the lonely Isle of Skye. It explores the many ways that humans react to environment and how this effects how we construct society. Bruce Parry is an English documentarian, indigenous rights campaigner, and adventurer who goes on a very fascinating and also immersive expedition to give a tangible voice to the beautiful forest itself.
So there you have it! If you want to discover more about the magic behind your mushroom experiences, check out our favorite documentaries. They cover a wide range of topics, from full-fledged journalism to in-depth and hard science. And we’ve just begun to scrape the surface; there’s still so much to learn about the incredible world of magic mushrooms and psilocybin.