We are the first filmmakers to be granted access to filming participants in FDA-approved trials with psychedelics before, during and after the therapy sessions. Until now, requests from filmmakers were denied on the grounds that camera presence may interfere with the scientific integrity of the study.

But Dr. Michael Mithoefer, the leading psychotherapist in the country in treating PTSD victims with MDMA (Ecstasy), has agreed to allow us to film participants in his 2017 pilot study which treats both the PTSD patients and their significant others. The IRB regulating the study has also approved our filming.

Most PTSD patients do not fully recover using   any existing medications and therapies. In early  trials, the MDMA treatment has shown remarkable results with chronic patients who have already exhausted all available options. Promising trials are also  undergoing with psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) in treating depression and addiction. While psychedelics remain illegal, the FDA is expected to grant in early 2017 approval for launching Phase 3 trials, which is the last stage before an experimental drug is approved for medical use. The film will follow the progress of Phase 3, which will test psychedelics on hundreds of patients throughout the country.

Forbidden Knowledge: The Return of Psychedelics (working title) is expected to be released around the time Phase 3 trials will be completed and the Federal government will be faced with a difficult decision: whether to allow psychedelic substances back into American medicine.

The Globalization Trilogy

Bitter Seeds wins the Green Award in Berlin

Bitter Seeds Wins IDA Humanitas Award in Los Angeles 

Bitter Seeds Wins Twice At IDFA in Amsterdam

Bitter Seeds won the Green Screen competition Award at IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Fifteen films competed, of which three were nominated. Earlier, the film had won the Oxfam Global Justice Award (see below).

The competition jury president, Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost), read out the jury’s the reasons for the award:

One film in particular stood out for its skillfulness in weaving together an economic, agricultural and sociological narrative, but above all in telling a number of different human stories. It showed us struggle, but also a possible way of escape. It added up to so much more than the sum of its parts. It was masterful, cinematically rich and it totally grabbed us in the guts. That film is… Bitter Seeds by Micha X. Peled.

Goal! completes Kickstarter run

We hit our target, but we’re still fundraising because we had to use some of our own money to reach the 30K marker. After deducting Kickstarter commissions, we cleared only 21K. If you’d like to support this important film, please contact us. All contributions are tax-free

Our Kickstarter Campaign 

   Our Wall of Donors

In Production: GOAL! The Incredible Journey

Can soccer help people out of homelessness? The transformative power of sports launches Kay from Charlotte, Angelina from Sacramento and their teammates from around the country out of their shelters and lives at the margins of society to represent the U.S. in the Homeless World Cup. This initiative combines soccer with assistance in transitioning out of homelessness through job, education and housing. Boarding an international flight, the players embark on a journey of a lifetime, where they will meet and compete against homeless soccer teams from 50 nations, and be challenged to their limits. (More…)

Watch the reel here.

Production Almost Completed for Goal!

Jan 10, 2014

We did follow-up filming with our characters , Kay in Charlotte, NC, and Maria in Minneapolis to see how their lives have changed since the trip to Poland. (More…)

Kay in Charlotte, near the car in which she was sleeping before going to the Homeless World Cup

Maria has started community college, where she is busy conjugating Spanish verbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Filming the Homeless World Cup

Nov. 20, 2013

The U.S. sent both Men’s and Women’s teams to the Homeless World Cup, which took place this year in Poznan, Poland. Over 50 countries participated, and the place felt like an Olympic Village. Our players, who have never left the country before, had a real eye-opener to the Big World out there. Friendships formed easily. We filmed there for ten days with two Polish shooters. (More…)

Opening Ceremony.

Women’s Team USA.

   The San Francisco Foundation Supports New Project

August 20, 2013

The SFF selected our new film, GOAL! The Incredible Journey for funding of the early production phase. (More…)

   Teddy Bear Films filming in Times Square

July 20, 2013

The three-day, eight-camera shoot of the Street Soccer USA Cup is a key part of our new project. Production begun in March. Many thanks to GoPro for donating HERO 3 cameras, which enabled us to get some awesome footage… (More…)

Barcelona, June 14, 2013

Our film China Blue has weighed in on the debate on the economic future of Spain, when it was featured at the 4^th annual Social Responsibility Week in Barcelona.

Micha Peled skyped in his part in the post-screening Q & A.

June 2013

The film broadcast rights have been acquired by Radio Canada and Iran’s official television channel in English, Press TV. So far, Bitter Seeds has aired on tv in eight countries, including PBS.

Micha Peled is traveling with the films to Vancouver, for screenings organized by the Vancouver Int’l Film Festival. Local Radio and press have been reporting on the events. Follow a screening at the legendary Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, WA, the Trilogy travels to Port Townsend, where Micha’s visit has also received advance coverage. From there Micha is flying to Sao Paolo, Brazil, to present the film at the 2nd Ecofalante Environmental Film Festival. All of this takes place during the last two weeks of May.

Jan 30. 2013

Micha Peled will be discussing the film with students around the Bay Area in early February:

Feb. 11: San Francisco Cal State University

Feb. 12: 5^th Annual Environmental Youth forum at the Calif. Film Inst.

Feb. 13: Stanford University, MFA documentary film program

Maharashtra, India – Nov. 25, 2012

Bitter Seeds has gone on an India village tour, where Micha Peled and local activists showed it to farmers on a mobile projector unit. Farmers’ reactions were recorded on video and will later be placed on line.

The village tour, a dream-come-true to film director Micha Peled, was coordinated by Video Volunteers through a grant obtained by Link-TV.

Read all about it.