1. Subject: Narcotics
Educational film about drug addiction.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
2. I'm Dangerous With Love
A haunting, visceral exploration of addiction and one contemporary man's fearless and determined quest for healing and redemption through the ancient wisdom of the Bwiti and their 'magical' plant, Iboga. For those seeking a path out of darkness, this film is not to be missed.
3. Megacities
Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.
It has an average vote of 6.861 on TMDB.
4. Don't Get High on Your Own Supply
This documentary by Leo Regan follows the life of his friend, photographer Lanre Fehintola, as he becomes part of the hard drug scene through researching it for his book . It shows Lanre as he becomes a character in his own book through his heroin addiction.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
5. Storia di Filomena e Antonio: Gli anni '70 e la droga a Milano (Storia di Filomena e Antonio: Gli anni '70 e la droga a Milano)
Documentary on the penetration of drugs in Milan in the 70s. Filomena is only 24 years old and recounts with a lucidity that takes her breath away her journey as a child locked up in boarding school, ran away from home, taken back by her family and treated as a lost woman. She talks about her marriage to a boy who emigrated to Germany, and her inability to adapt to this new situation. She narrates the arrival in Milan, the meeting with Antonio and the one with drugs. A dialogue for two voices traces the ruthless picture of drug addiction, the daily search for the dose and the attempts to get out of it. It is a poignant document, above all for the lucidity, measure, maturity and intelligence of two unforgettable figures.
6. I forgive you, Mama
Maya is Ayaibex's daughter, an addict in recovery that feels a blame for damages that caused her daughter, Maya decides to remember her mother's childhood experiences in her world of addiction to seek the redemption of the weight that her mother has loaded for 20 years and get both to forgiveness.
7. The Trip
In this honest and deeply personal account of living with addiction, a young man talks about the realities and challenges of living in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik and the hope he still harbours for himself and his people.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
8. Under Blue Skies (Suot tschêl blau)
In the 1980s the breathtaking scenery of the Engadine is the setting of a social tragedy. The local youth rejects the rigid rules of traditional society. Along with juvenile get-togethers, heroin appears in the mountain valley. As more and more die from overdose, society reacts to the crisis by isolating itself and averting its eyes. The film lifts the veil on the stories untold. Can the memories of this bleak past become part of the Engadine’s acknowledged heritage?
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
9. Through a Blue Lens
This documentary, set in the Lower East End of Vancouver's downtown core, is a pretty honest account of life on the streets in urban Canada. It is aimed at educating high school kids on the dangers of addiction to hard drugs and is the brainchild of a group of city police officers who videotape their interactions with local homeless personalities.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
10. Methadonia
Shot over the course of 18 months in New York City's Lower East Side, METHADONIA sheds light on the inherent flaws of legal methadone treatments for heroin addiction by profiling eight addicts, in various stages of recovery and relapse, who attend the New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services .
It has an average vote of 4.8 on TMDB.
11. The Weird World of LSD
The 60s equivalent of Reefer Madness and all those other 30s drug exploitation flicks. Apparently, dropping acid leads to stripteases, cat fights, promiscuous sex, playing with kittens, and being convinced your dinner is much larger than it actually is. This is all illustrated in a series of silent sketches accompanied by a droll narrator who seems positively doped out of his mind.
It has an average vote of 3.6 on TMDB.
12. Mouloud Feraoun (Mouloud Feraoun)
Docufiction about Mouloud Feraoun, an author who upholds the great values of the Universal Man. It is in the name of man that Feraoun stands up against injustice. It is in the name of man that he is tormented by war. Feraoun is a solitary creator who suffers to the point of wishing for liberating madness. It is through his work that the portrait of a humble and discreet author, a talented writer and convictions emerges. Most of the time, I let him talk about himself in simple and fair words. I compile his moments of hope, worry, dreams and fears. During all my research, a generous and good Mouloud Feraoun stood out to me who did not hesitate to expose an inhuman and shameful colonial system. His clear and straightforward voice echoes the cry of a people from whom he has never separated.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
13. The Distant Drummer: A Movable Scene
Robert Mitchum narrates an anti drug propaganda film.
It has an average vote of 3.5 on TMDB.
14. The Business of Recovery
The Business of Recovery examines the untold billions that are being made off of families in crisis. With little regulation or science, addiction treatment has become a cash cow business that continues to grow while deaths pile up.
15. J Is for Junkie
In the 1980s and 1990s, an epidemic of crack cocaine addiction ravaged African American communities across the United States. Crack is extremely addictive, a trap that can lead to homelessness and an early death. Black addicts in Atlanta, Georgia tell us about their addiction, their past, and their struggles with police.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
16. Ibogaine: Rite of Passage
Ibogaine is a plant extract that stops drug addiction. In this documentary, a 34-year-old heroin addict undergoes ibogaine therapy with Dr Martin Polanco at the Ibogaine Association, a clinic in Rosarito, Mexico. In Gabon, where use of the iboga root is traditional, a Babongo woman's tribe uses the plant to help her recover from a depressive malaise. Director Benjamin De Loenen interviews people formerly addicted to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, who share their perspectives about ibogaine treatment.
It has an average vote of 6.6 on TMDB.
17. The Distant Drummer: Bridge from No Place
This film describes the 1960s drug culture. Addicts discuss their experiences in the United States and in Vietnam. Dr. Stanley Yolles, director of the National Institute of Mental Health , talks about the drug culture and the NIMH role in prevention and treatment. The tape describes growth in the use of marijuana and heroin. In 1966, the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act is the first law to give the addict a choice of treatment or jail. Synanon in California is a private, self-help, residential community that helps people deal with their addictions. New York's Daytop Village works not only with addicts on addictions, but on developing a new lifestyle. Methadone, though still experimental, has proved to be an effective treatment for heroin addiction.
18. Be Here to Love Me
Chronicles the fascinating and often turbulent life of Townes Van Zandt.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
19. Mamma (Mamma)
It's Christmas Eve, and Synnøve is searching for her drug-addicted daughter Michelle in an almost desolated city. During the course of the evening, she'll find herself in an impossible situation where she's forced to choose.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
20. Cocaine: History Between the Lines
Cocaine has always gotten a bad rap, and for a reason. It is a drug used by the rich and the poor legally and illegally, Mexican cartels fought over it with Colombia once associated with the brutal cocaine wars, and a source of tension between the American and Mexican borders on the people who are illicitly bringing in cocaine from one side of the border to another and will do anything to do it. So it can be surprising at times to the viewer throughout the course of the documentary special, that it was never always like this.