Fungimentary: The Magic Mushrooms of Balingup (1995)

• 65%
• 1995
• Paul Blake
• Russell Vines

Multi award winning (Australian made) guerrilla independent documentary. First Broadcast on SBS (Australia) 8:30pm 20 October 1995. It undertakes a highly entertaining tongue-in-cheek investigation into the impact of the sudden discovery of Magic Mushrooms growing in an 'Enchanted Forest', near the tiny rural town of Balingup, in south-West Australia. Pop 397. The Aztecs and many other ancient peoples used Magic Mushrooms in the worship of their deities. Vikings went berserk after eating them. Hippies across the planet have been using this 'forbidden fruit' for years. Meet the 'Shroomers, The Police, The local Balingup residents: Angry, nervous, and sometimes supportive; the medical professionals and a Mycologist (biologist specializing in the study of Fungi) who studied alongside Sir David Attenborough (literally)at Cambridge University. This film leads us far beyond the picturesque vistas of Balingup and into the international politics of the so-called 'War On Drugs'. * Broadcast on free to air TV in Australia, plus free to air (and cable) TV in Indonesia, Israel, France, and England from 1996 through to the present. Fact Is Often Stranger Than Fiction...