Ayahuasca : Condamnés à halluciner

Getting your prisoners high, a new method used by Rondonia, one of the most violent prisons in Brazil, to reduce the recidivism rate. Immerse yourself in the heart of this extraordinary report, which traces the path of criminals towards redemption. What if a good trip put you back on the right path? Hard to believe it. And yet, this is the bet made by one of the most violent prisons in Brazil: Rondonia. 4,000 prisoners, overcrowded cells and inhumane living conditions. In 2002, one of the bloodiest mutinies in the history of Brazilian prisons occurred there. It resulted in the death of 27 people. The boarders, the cream of Brazilian jailbirds. A priori, their situation is hopeless. And yet, since 2012, the prison management has been experimenting with a rather surprising program: getting criminals high to save them from their impulses. How ? Thanks to an extremely powerful hallucinogenic drink, dating from the dawn of time and used by the tribes of the Amazon: Ayahuasca. Some poetically nickname it the “creeper of souls”. Made from plants, it is above all a well-measured cocktail which plunges those who absorb it into a liberating trance during which they relive the traumatic moments of their life, become aware of the harm they may have caused and begin to feel repentance. This is what pleased the prison director, who saw it as a way to treat criminals. Since 2012, more than 2,000 volunteer prisoners have participated in the program. Every month, thirteen of them embark on a spiritual walk. They join a site run by shamans in the middle of the forest and submit to Ayahuasca. For four hours, they switch to another dimension and under the effect of this drug, see again the horrors they committed, the people they killed. They come away upset and often confess to feeling transformed after a few months. Some say that an Ayahuasca trip is worth at least ten years of therapy. This may be a bit exaggerated, but in the meantime, since the start of treatment at Rondonia prison, the recidivism rate has fallen by 40%. Directed by: Aude Chevallier-Beaumel, Nolwenn Herve, Harold Grenouilleau