Raw Opium is a 2011 documentary film and two-part TV series produced by Robert Lang of Kensington Communications, directed by Peter Findlay and written by Peter Findlay and Robert Lang. The documentary examines the worldwide opium trade, and the vast criminal and public health issues that have arisen alongside.
Raw Opium is a journey around the world and through time, where conflicting forces do battle over the narcotic sap of the opium poppy. From an opium master in southeast Asia to a UN drug enforcement officer on the border of Afghanistan hunting down the smugglers of central Asia; from a former Indian government Drug Czar and opium farmer to a crusading Vancouver doctor and Portuguese street worker who daily confront the realities of drug addiction.
We see how this flower has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role – not just in the lives of people who grow, manufacture and use it – but also in the increasingly tense sphere of international relations. In the process, our assumptions about addiction and the War on Drugs are challenged.
| Raw Opium | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Findlay |
| Produced by | Robert Lang |
| Written by | Peter Findlay, Robert Lang |
| Distributed by | Kensington Communications |
| Release date(s) | 2011 |
| Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | Canada, India, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Portugal |
| Language | English |
Read more about Raw Opium: Production Credits, Filming Locations, People in The Documentary, Screenings, Broadcasts
Famous quotes containing the words raw and/or opium:
“Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same—hardihood. Give them raw truth.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)
“Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)