Project Detail

Detox or Die

Synopsis

A dramatic documentary biopic in which the drug addicted filmmaker tries a radical and frightening method of detox.

Details

Year
2004
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
44 mins
Format
DvCam
Director
David Graham Scott
Producer
John Archer
Executive Producer
Todd Austin
Editor
Nicola Clemens
Director of Photography
David Graham Scott
Composer
Neil Barclay, Lou Reed

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Hopscotch Films, BBC

Sales Company

Hopscotch Films, Glasgow

Page updates

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David Graham Scott’s 2004 film DETOX OR DIE documented how with a single dose of iboga he quit his drug addiction, inspiring many others to go down the same path. The psychedelic plant root hails from Africa where it has been used in religious ceremonies through countless generations. A burgeoning movement in the west has promoted iboga as a quick fix route to painless drug withdrawal. Now David wants to find out how truly effective iboga is. In a Dutch suburb several addicts embark on the long night of psychedelic detox under the watchful eye of an experienced iboga practitioner. One client collapses and ends up on life-support, the provider is jailed and David starts to question the safety of iboga treatment. The film culminates with a nerve-wracking iboga session in London where the director himself administers the treatment. How does the filmmaker weigh up the ethics of involving himself so deeply in this controversial detox option and what will be his final resolve on the efficacy of it?

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