The Ayahuasca Project / The Jungle Prescription

Ten years ago Mark Ellam, Jeronimo Mazarrasa, and Robin McKenna began to make a documentary film about what indigenous people know, and we have forgotten, about the most potent plants on earth.
The Jungle Prescription tells the story 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. Jacques Mabit, runs a legendary detox centre deep in the Peruvian jungle. 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 helping others applying this medicinal knowledge.
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. Now we need YOUR support to help us finish the editing and final post-production of the feature-length documentary we set out to make.
ABOUT THE FILM
The film follows the story of two radical doctors and their patients.  One is in Peru, and for 30 years has worked hand in hand with indigenous healers.
The other is a doctor and bestselling author from Vancouver. He believes the medical system has failed us - by chasing symptoms instead of the root causes of illness. To help his patients - and benefit all of us- he is willing to risk his reputation and go up against Canada’s legal system.
We follow Dr Mate’s attempts to help his patients, and the miracles and disasters along the way. We watch young, cocaine-injecting lovers teeter on the edge, and an aboriginal single mother with a decade-long crack habit reunited with her children. Meanwhile, Dr. Mate relapses into his own addictive patterns, and is forced to face the consequences, and to learn the true meaning of commitment.
Along the road, we meet a Kurdish gangsta, a Catalonian pharmacologist, an indigenous shamanic powerhouse from the Putumayo, a shoeshine boy from Perú, and a very very angry wife. All wrapped around a mysterious visionary drink from the Amazon, outlandish rituals, purgative plants, tears, laughter, epiphanies, relapses, classical music, and the eternal human question: how to live.
WHY ARE WE MAKING THIS FILM?
We decided to focus our film on the treatment of addiction through the combination of traditional Amazonian medicine and western psychotherapy. We believed it was the best way to present to the world how ayahuasca affects people (as displayed by the dramatic process of change that the addicts undergo), while making a clear statement - the very same plants can be poisons or remedies, depending how they are used. We want to 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, when the exchange is reciprocal.
Since news of our documentary was made public, the Canadian government has threatened Dr. Maté with prosecution if he continues working with ayahuasca.
This ongoing controversy reminded us why it’s so important that we continue. As we move towards finishing the film, the story continues to unfold- and we are uniquely positioned to tell it.

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