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Peter von Puttkamer's Psychedelic Odyssey
Moviemaker goes from "Peyote to LSD" in new documentary
With High Definition becoming the norm in living rooms around the world, the television documentary business is becoming more relevant than ever. Now that televised images look better than real life, documentarians like Peter von Puttkamer are the tour guides of the 21st century. In his latest effort, “Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey”, set to air April 19 on The History Channel, von Puttkamer takes viewers on a long, strange trip chronicling the history of hallucinogens. Prior to airing, von Puttkamer answered some of MM’s questions, giving us his take on the HD revolution, Final Cut Pro and the ethics of hallucinogens.
Andrew Gnerre (MM): How did the idea for this project come about?
Peter von Puttkamer (PVP): I’ve been making documentaries for over 25 years. One of my early award-winning docs was “The Spirit of the Mask” in 1990. It was about masks and spirituality, the first nations and the Native American people of the Pacific Northwest and what we could all learn from their concept of nature and the universe. I asked famed author and ethno-botanist Wade Davis to come on board as a host and we would collaborate on the writing.
Wade and I became friends and would go on to collaborate on other projects. Now a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade had written a book called One River about the amazing life of his mentor and Harvard professor Richard Evans Schultes, the greatest botanist explorer of the 20th century. Among the 2,000 new plants, medicines and poisons he would discover in a lifetime traveling the Americas and living with native peoples were hallucinogens. A serious academic, Schultes would unwittingly become one of the fathers of the psychedelic era. So this story of hallucinogens from jungle shamans to the hippie generation was one that appealed to me.
I pitched it to The History Channel and they liked it and we developed it with them. Shooting began in January of 2006.
I loved working on this show, which looks at the whole subject of hallucinogens in a very alternative way: Through travel, adventure and the lives of Native peoples. It reveals the untold story of the psychedelic era.
MM: In the film, you document some native hallucinogenic rituals taking place today. What was it like filming these otherworldly ceremonies? Were you invited to partake?
PVP: Fortunately, I came to this project after many years of producing films for and about Native Indian communities in North America and around the world. One is not invited lightly to film or reveal any aspects of the real ceremonies—the ones not put on for tourists. So using my contacts here and in Mexico and Wade’s—particularly in South America—we were able to gain access to ceremonies rarely, if ever, seen on film before.
In working with indigenous peoples my purpose has always been to help, work collaboratively and get a good message out. In this case hallucinogens, as used by native peoples for centuries, are not recreational drugs but tools for Shamans to access disease in the human body, whether spiritually, mentally or physically. Native American communities where peyote is used have much lower rates of alcoholism and drug issues. Peyote is referred to as medicine; young children are invited to take part. It is not harmful, but the opposite; it helps prepare young people for a spiritual life and an understanding of their culture and their universe.
As a Harvard-trained ethno-botanist, Wade always takes part in hallucinogenic ceremonies as a regular part of his work. As a director and second cameraman, I decided it was best not to partake in this as I had a show to produce, direct and shoot!
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Brian Cox on 5/09/08 at 2:48 pm
There is a holy man who lives near Mt. Shasta, CA who uses altered states for healing, but his connection with the Totality is done through spirit, not the drugs. Dennis is seeking a television producer who is interested in doing a live healing show where the audience at home watching can learn to heal themselves as he heals a person with multiple sclerosis on the show. It’s all about allowing to believe in ourselves that it can be done, and it can. He was studied in the labs under scientific conditions and was one of the original psychic remote viewers studied by the CIA. Please help the planet heal itself and contact me if you are a tv producer or please forward this information to them.
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