A Documentary Film

Iboga –
the Movie

Before  ·  During  ·  After

"What if the way out was always growing in the heart of the jungle?"

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The Story

From the
rave floor to
the jungle floor

In Central Europe, a close-knit group of friends lives for the rave scene and the freedom it promises. But when darker forces emerge, the party continues at any cost, pain is numbed, and celebration slowly turns into addiction.

After years of struggle, they encounter iboga, opening a path toward healing that reaches far beyond substance dependence.

Iboga the Movie follows their transformation while tracing the plant's mythical and cultural roots in the heart of Africa. At the same time, it offers a critical reflection on prohibition, medical systems, and the structural failures that leave people without real support.

"What, if this is my last chance?"
— Opening of the film

Format

30-minute documentary
Austria & Gabon
Festival · TV · VOD
DE / EN

The Film

A journey in
four chapters

I

0:00 – 7:00

Before

We meet 2–3 protagonists in their daily lives — the burdens, the motivations, the expectations. Contrasting images of work, family, isolation. What brought them here?

II

7:00 – 13:00

The Plant

The botany and origins of iboga — concise and factual. Its traditional context in Gabon, its modern reception in the West. Experts weigh in on benefits, risks, and what science actually knows.

III

13:00 – 20:00

During

Observational sequences within ethical boundaries. The focus is on preparation, care, safety protocols, and human presence — not on spectacle. No aestheticisation of altered states.

IV

20:00 – 30:00

After

Weeks later: integration, setbacks, new routines. The gap between expectation and reality. An honest closing balance — the chances, the limits, the responsibility.

The Plant

Tabernanthe iboga

"A shrub sacred to the Bwiti people of central Africa for millennia — and one of the most contested substances in modern addiction medicine."

Iboga is not a recreational drug. In its traditional context it is a rite of passage — a threshold into adulthood and into the unseen. In contemporary settings it is being studied as a treatment for opioid withdrawal, PTSD, and depression with results that mainstream medicine cannot yet explain or replicate.

Origin

Equatorial rainforest belt of central Africa — Gabon, Cameroon, Congo.

Active compound

Ibogaine — a naturally occurring psychoactive alkaloid with a uniquely long duration of action.

Cultural use

The Bwiti tradition uses iboga root bark in initiation ceremonies spanning decades of practice.

Legal status

Illegal in most of Europe and the US. Legal in Gabon, Portugal, and several other countries. A central tension of the film.

Research

Clinical pilot studies are emerging worldwide, documenting dramatic reductions in opiate withdrawal — under strict medical supervision.

  • ~85%
    of Gabon covered by equatorial rainforest
  • 3,000+
    years of documented Bwiti ceremonial practice
  • 1 plant
    at the intersection of tradition, prohibition, and healing

Gabon

Back to
the source

The second half of the film leaves Europe behind and travels into the heart of Gabon — to the landscapes where iboga grows, to the people who have held its knowledge for generations, and to the conservationists protecting what remains.

We work with local partners and guides. The film does not position itself as an outsider studying a culture — it seeks a conversation between worlds: between a plant's traditional home and the Western crisis that is now turning toward it.

Filming in Gabon is not a backdrop. It is essential. The plant cannot be understood without its place.

Our Approach

Documentary
with integrity

◻

Not Missionary

We do not advocate for iboga. We follow real people and ask honest questions. The film carries no therapeutic promises.

◻

Not Alarmist

We do not sensationalise risk, darkness, or altered states. Long takes. Natural sound. Space for silence and ambiguity.

◻

Rigorous Care

Informed consent from all participants. Medical fact-checking. Anonymisation options. The protection of vulnerable people is non-negotiable.

Why This Film, Why Now

The question
isn't whether it
works.

Preliminary clinical evidence is accumulating. Opioid deaths are rising. Treatment systems are overstretched. And a naturally occurring compound that might interrupt addiction in a single session remains illegal in most of the countries where the need is greatest.

The film asks: what does that gap tell us? About pharmacology, about prohibition, about who gets to decide what healing looks like — and for whom.

This is not a pro-drugs film. It is a film about the distance between evidence and policy, and about the people who live in that gap.

Editorial Pillars

  • Human-first storytelling — protagonists, not case studies
  • Scientific accuracy, no speculative medical claims
  • Respect for Bwiti cultural knowledge and sovereignty
  • Transparent about the risks — iboga is not safe without medical supervision
  • A critical lens on prohibition structures and institutional medicine
  • Open ending — no easy answers

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