Raw Opium
Encyclopedia
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.
Producer: Robert Lang
Written by: Peter D. Findlay, Robert Lang
Associate Producer / Researcher: Scott Calbeck
Cinematographers: Derek Rogers, Jonathan Bland
Editor: Michael Fuller
Sound Recordists: Mike Fillipov, Ao Loo, Kevin Pinto
Production Manager: David Meth
Original Music: John Findlay
Narration: Peter D. Findlay, John Kramer
Narrator: John Ralston
Editorial Consultant: John Kramer
Head of Development: David Oppenheim
Executive Producer: Robert Lang
Produced by Kensington Communications Inc.
in association with TVO
, Canal D
(owned by Astral Media
), SCN
, CTV Two, ZDF-ARTE
, and SBS-TV Australia. Produced with the participation of the Media Development Corporation, and Documentary Fund. Produced with the financial participation of Canadian Television Fund
, and with the assistance of the Docs Completion Fund.
© 2011 Kensington Communications Inc.
, Tajikistan
Dr. Gabor Maté
: Physician, Author, Public Speaker, Vancouver, Canada
Peter Dale Scott
: Author and Commentator, Berkeley, USA
Larry Mendosa: Special Agent, Drug Enforcement Administration
, USA
Gwynne Dyer
: Author, Historian, Journalist, London, UK
Misha Glenny
: Journalist, Author, UK
Darwin Fisher: Intake manager, Insite
, Vancouver, Canada
Derek Thomas: Client at Insite
, Vancouver, Canada
Eugene Oscapella: Barrister and Solicitor, Ottawa, Canada
Pam Squire, MD.: Doctor, Pain Management Specialist, Vancouver, Canada
Daniel Reid: Author and Historian, Australia
Peresia and Danglesia Kathak: Opium farmers, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Romesh Bhattacharji: Former Narcotics Commissioner, India
Rui Reis: Outreach worker, Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and two-part TV series produced by Robert Lang of Kensington Communications
Kensington Communications
-Background:Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 150 productions from documentary series and films to performing arts...
, directed by Peter Findlay and written by Peter Findlay and Robert Lang. The documentary examines the worldwide opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
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.
Production Credits
Director: Peter D. FindlayProducer: Robert Lang
Robert Lang (producer)
Robert Lang, founder and president of Kensington Communications, is an internationally recognized, award-winning documentary and interactive media producer/director....
Written by: Peter D. Findlay, Robert Lang
Robert Lang (producer)
Robert Lang, founder and president of Kensington Communications, is an internationally recognized, award-winning documentary and interactive media producer/director....
Associate Producer / Researcher: Scott Calbeck
Cinematographers: Derek Rogers, Jonathan Bland
Editor: Michael Fuller
Sound Recordists: Mike Fillipov, Ao Loo, Kevin Pinto
Production Manager: David Meth
Original Music: John Findlay
Narration: Peter D. Findlay, John Kramer
Narrator: John Ralston
Editorial Consultant: John Kramer
Head of Development: David Oppenheim
Executive Producer: Robert Lang
Robert Lang (producer)
Robert Lang, founder and president of Kensington Communications, is an internationally recognized, award-winning documentary and interactive media producer/director....
Produced by Kensington Communications Inc.
Kensington Communications
-Background:Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 150 productions from documentary series and films to performing arts...
in association with TVO
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
, Canal D
Canal D
Canal D is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media. Canal D focuses on documentary programming primarily in the form of documentary-style television series that focus on a variety of topics such as crime, biographies, nature, science, and more.-History:In June...
(owned by Astral Media
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
), SCN
Saskatchewan Communications Network
SCN is a Canadian English language cable television entertainment, information, and educational channel in the province of Saskatchewan...
, CTV Two, ZDF-ARTE
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
, and SBS-TV Australia. Produced with the participation of the Media Development Corporation, and Documentary Fund. Produced with the financial participation of Canadian Television Fund
Canadian Television Fund
The Canadian Television Fund supported the production and broadcast of Canadian television programs. On 1 April 2010, the Canadian Television Fund became the Canada Media Fund...
, and with the assistance of the Docs Completion Fund.
© 2011 Kensington Communications Inc.
Kensington Communications
-Background:Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 150 productions from documentary series and films to performing arts...
People in the documentary
Christer Brannerud: Project lead, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations agency that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations...
, Tajikistan
Dr. Gabor Maté
Gábor Máté (physician)
Gabor Maté is a Hungarian-born Canadian physician who specializes in the study and treatment of addiction and is also widely recognized for his unique perspective on Attention Deficit Disorder and his firmly held belief in the connection between mind and body health.A sought-after speaker and...
: Physician, Author, Public Speaker, Vancouver, Canada
Peter Dale Scott
Peter Dale Scott
Peter Dale Scott is a Canadian born, former English professor at the University of California, Berkeley, a former diplomat and a poet....
: Author and Commentator, Berkeley, USA
Larry Mendosa: Special Agent, Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
, USA
Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer, OC is a London-based independent Canadian journalist, syndicated columnist and military historian.Dyer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at the age of sixteen...
: Author, Historian, Journalist, London, UK
Misha Glenny
Misha Glenny
Misha Glenny is a British journalist who specializes in southeastern Europe and global organized crime.-Biography:Glenny is the son of the late Russian studies academic Michael Glenny...
: Journalist, Author, UK
Darwin Fisher: Intake manager, Insite
Insite
Insite is the only legal supervised injection site in North America, located at 139 East Hastings Street, in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The DTES had 4700 chronic drug users in 2000 and has been considered to be the centre of an "injection drug epidemic"...
, Vancouver, Canada
Derek Thomas: Client at Insite
Insite
Insite is the only legal supervised injection site in North America, located at 139 East Hastings Street, in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The DTES had 4700 chronic drug users in 2000 and has been considered to be the centre of an "injection drug epidemic"...
, Vancouver, Canada
Eugene Oscapella: Barrister and Solicitor, Ottawa, Canada
Pam Squire, MD.: Doctor, Pain Management Specialist, Vancouver, Canada
Daniel Reid: Author and Historian, Australia
Peresia and Danglesia Kathak: Opium farmers, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Romesh Bhattacharji: Former Narcotics Commissioner, India
Rui Reis: Outreach worker, Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal
Screenings
Find out where the documentary is screening and where it has screened on the website: Upcoming Screenings and BroadcastsBroadcasts
The 2-part TV documentary has been shown in several countries.- 2-part documentary, broadcast, online streamed with a live chat, TVOTVOTVO is an abbreviation with several different significations:*Televisora de Oriente, a Venezuelan TV station*Teollisuuden Voima, a Finnish nuclear power company*Total Value of Ownership, an evaluation method*TVOntario, a Canadian TV station...
, Ontario, Canada, tvo.org/rawopium - 2-part documentary, broadcast on CTV Two, Alberta, Canada
- 8 minute segment of Raw Opium broadcast as part of The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
Film Project on PBS NewsHour, USA - Feature French version broadcast on Canal D throughout French Canada
- 2-part documentary broadcast on SBS TVSBS TVSBS One is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally...
, Australia - Feature documentary broadcast in Germany, France, Switzerland on ZDF and Arte