Documentary - Third Monk

Jan 5, 2015Jun 17, 2016

A$AP Rocky: SVDDXNLY – VICE Documentary (Video)

“SVDDXNLY” chronicles the ascension of one of raps brightest young stars, A$AP Rocky. From home videos and interviews with friends and family, to the very first seminal moments of his career caught on tape, Rocky takes viewers behind the scenes into his life as he takes A$AP from Harlem, to the world.

A$AP Rocky: SVDDXNLY Part 2

In part two, VICE takes a look around A$AP’s tour bus studio and Rocky opens up about his late brother.

A$AP Rocky: SVDDXNLY Part 3

In part three, we learn about the genesis of the A$AP Mob and Rocky shows us around his house.

A$AP Rocky: SVDDXNLY Part 4

In part four, Rocky hangs out with fashion icon Jeremy Scott, learns a “secret handshake” form Kathy Griffin, and soaks up some game from Snoop Dogg himself.

A$AP Rocky: SVDDXNLY Part 5

In the final part of “SVDDXNLY” A$AP reflects on his success and looks to the future. We also hang out with Schoolboy Q, Riff Raff, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, and Chanel Iman.

Nov 25, 2014Jan 23, 2018

Ayahuasca, The Psychedelic Reset Button (Documentary)

Lisa Ling goes inside an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru and talks to people who are drinking this potent brew in hopes that it will alleviate their mental and emotional traumas.

Former Marine Ryan LeCompte organizes trips to Peru for war veterans, like himself, who are seeking ayahuasca as a possible treatment for PTSD and other emotional and mental trauma suffered after multiple combat deployments.

Ayahuasca is a way to give relief to those who are suffering, Many veterans are not satisfied with the PTSD treatment they receive when they return from combat.

It’s just, ‘Here’s a pill, here’s a Band-Aid.’ The ayahuasca medicine is a way to, instead of sweeping your dirt under the rug, you know, these medicines force you to take the rug outside and beat it with a stick until it’s clean, And that’s how I prefer to clean my house. – Ryan LeCompte, VETEntheogenic

Safe Use of Ayahuasca

Through IndieGogo.com, the Ethnobotanical Stewardship Council is raising money to create a health guide for ayahuasca centers in the Amazon, so tourists know which centers are safe and harvesting the plants in a sustainable manner that supports the local communities.

The idea would be to put the ESC’s logo outside ayahuasca ceremony sites to signify those centers that meet the council’s criteria for safety and sustainability.

In addition, there are efforts to study the medicinal benefits of ayahuasca so that it can be regulated and legalized in the United States, explains Rick Doblin, executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.

> Could this be the next medicinal marijuana? | CNN Health

Nov 12, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Monkey Business – Jobs for Primates (Video)

These short documentaries by Matthew Killip feature people who work with monkeys and apes around the world. Some work partnerships between man and monkey bring them closer together by employing the intelligence of our ape cousins.

Monkey Business: Indonesia

Monkey Business: Nigeria

Monkey Business: USA

Monkey Business: India

Jun 2, 2014Jun 17, 2016

The History and Poetry of Animation (Video)

Animation has captivated audiences for over a hundred years. From classic forms like hand drawn and stop-motion, to cutting-edge techniques like motion graphics and CGI, animation has a long history of creating style and poetry unachievable through live action filmmaking.

It is a tool for educating, a place for experimentation and play, and a way of telling personal stories that reach the viewer with powerful visual metaphors.

May 18, 2014Jun 17, 2016

The Zen Float Tent – First Affordable Isolation Tank For Home Use

The benefits of sensory deprivation tanks are no secret: relaxation, deep meditation, soothing chronic muscle pain, increased athletic performance, and an overall sense of well being, but until now these benefits came at a hefty financial cost.

Zen Float has created an isolation tank that can be self assembled and is cheaper than its competition. Ideally it is paving the way for higher accessibility and lowered costs in the industry.

Much lighter than traditional models, the Zen Float Tent will weigh a little more than a water bed once you add the epsom salt and water.

Zen Float is running a Kickstarter to fund their idea, check it out for more details on the product. Whether you can afford to pre-order your own tank or not, it’s awesome to support a company that is hopefully going to make a huge difference for the collective conciousness.

Uncovered Zen Float Tent

Zen Float Tent in the Wild

> Zen Float | Visual News

Mar 20, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Psychedemia – Merging Psychedelics and Academics (Video)

From Neuroscience to Shamanic Healing and everything in between. This documentary film concisely illuminates the emerging interdisciplinary field of Psychedelic Studies in a way that is accessible, informative and inspiring.

“Psychedemia” is the first academic conference funded by an American university to explicitly focus on the risks and benefits of psychedelic experience. Ph.D’s, M.D.’s, M.A’s, graduate students and lay folk from all walks of life convened at the University of Pennsylvania to present new research addressing the historical and potential influences of psychedelics on knowledge production, health, and creativity. The four day event brought together scientists, artists, journalists, historians and philosophers from more than 10 countries for an Ivy League convocation unprecedented not only in view of its controversial subject matter, but in its unparalleled inter-disciplinary scope.

Psychedemia, the film, concisely presents the varied complexity of the emerging field of Psychedelic Studies in a way that is accessible, informative and inspiring.

Directed and Edited by two-time Emmy Award winner Vann K. Weller and Drew Knight, the documentary is being dedicated to the Public Domain to be freely used for any non-commercial purpose as an intellectual and cultural artifact.

Mar 10, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Music and the Psychedelic Experience (Documentary)

Pitchfork presents a documentary on psychedelics and its effect on modern music.

Musicians and historians are interviewed about the marriage of psychedelics and music, and the rebellious birth of psychedelic rock.

They share thoughts about the future of psychedelic music and how a psychedelic experience can positively influence their music and creativity.

Jan 14, 2014Jun 17, 2016

The Overview Effect – A Profound Shift in Human Consciousness (Video)

The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it.

Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available… a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose. – Fred Hoyle, 1948

For more pictures of the Earth taken from space go here and here.

Jan 6, 2014Jan 23, 2018

Fractals – The Hidden Dimension That Designs Our Universe (Documentary)

Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature.

What do movie special effects, heart attacks and the rings of Saturn have in common?

You may not know it, but fractals, like the air you breathe, are all around you. Their irregular, repeating shapes are found in cloud formations and tree limbs, in stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, even in the rhythm of the human heart.

In this film, NOVA takes viewers on a fascinating quest with a group of maverick mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry. Discovered by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, fractals are the architecture used by nature.

Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rain forest to fashion design.

The documentary highlights a host of filmmakers, fashion designers, physicians, and researchers who are using fractal geometry to innovate and inspire.

Fractals – Art Gallery

Dec 18, 2013Jun 17, 2016

The Buddha – A Documentary Story of the Buddha’s Life (Video)

The Buddha never claimed to be God, or his emissary on Earth. He was a human being who, in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, found serenity, which he said others could find too.

Why do human beings suffer? What constitutes ethical behavior? How is it possible to find peace and serenity?

These were questions which the Buddha asked, and which the film explores by giving an account of his spiritual journey.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere. The documentary is woven through with animation and draws upon paintings and sculptures across 2 millennia by some of the world’s greatest artists, as well as fragments of the Buddha’s world still present in India and Nepal today.

The Buddha – A Documentary Story of the Buddha’s Life

I have seen many a film on Buddha, but few of them have succeeded as well as this one in so lucidly and compellingly presenting the transformative elements of his dharma. – Paul Knitter, Professor, Union Theological Seminary

> Siddhartha | Grubin

Oct 20, 2013Oct 20, 2013

The Legacy of Edgar Cayce, Psychic Visionary (Documentary)

Called the Sleeping Prophet, the “Father of Holistic Medicine,” and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. For more than 40 years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce gave psychic “readings” to thousands of seekers while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and revealing lives lived in the past and prophecies yet to come.

But who, exactly, was Edgar Cayce?

Although Cayce died more than sixty years ago, he left behind a corpus of information that continues to make a large impact on the contemporary world. Sixty years ago who could have known that terms such as “meditation,” “Akashic records,” “spiritual growth,” “auras,” “soul mates,” and “holism” would have become household words to millions?

The following documentary merely scratches the surface of Edgar Cayce’s life and work.

Members of Edgar Cayces Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), the nonprofit founded by Cayce in 1931, have access to the entire set of 14,306 readings in a database residing in the member-only section of their Web site. The readings can also be found in their entirety in their on-site library, located at their headquarters in Virginia Beach which is open to the public, daily.

Legacy of Edgar Cayce – Part 1

Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions. – Edgar Cayce

Legacy of Edgar Cayce – Part 2

It is thought and feeling which guides the universe, not deeds. – Edgar Cayce

Legacy of Edgar Cayce – Part 3

You can never lose anything that really belongs to you, and you can’t keep that which belongs to someone else. – Edgar Cayce

Legacy of Edgar Cayce – Part 4

Meditation is listening to the Divine within. – Edgar Cayce

Legacy of Edgar Cayce – Part 5

Soul Development should take precedence over all things. – Edgar Cayce

> Legacy of Cayce | Top Documentary Films

Sep 12, 2013Jun 17, 2016

Underground LSD Palace – VICE Documentary (Video)

VICE correspondent Hamilton Morris is at again. Inbetween floating in sensory deprivation tanks and his fruitful trips through the Amazon to find hallucinogenic frogs, Richard found the time to interview Krystle Cole and her experience in the Underground LSD Palace.

Former goth stripper Krystle Cole talks about her time spent living in a subterranean missile silo converted into a luxurious LSD manufacturing facility. She spent three years of her life running from the DEA, being held partially against her will and used as a guinea pig for strange new psychedelic chemicals.

Eventually her friends-turned-captors were arrested and Krystle herself barely escaped incarceration. She now makes her living as a writer and host of NeuroSoup, an informative web series on a wide range of psychedelics.