Alejandro Jodorowsky’s New Film About Trauma Therapy to Debut via Alamo On Demand

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

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Cult Chilean-French filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s new film, a documentary about trauma therapy titled “Psychomagic, A Healing Art,” is set to debut from ABKCO Films via Alamo On Demand this summer. Alamo Drafthouse’s VOD platform will premiere the film August 7, preceded by a five-film retrospective of the “Holy Mountain” director’s best work beginning August 1. The five films included in the lineup are “Fando y Lis,” “El Topo,” “The Holy Mountain,” “The Dance of Reality,” and “Endless Poetry.” Additionally, the platform will host a virtual master class with Jodorowsky August 8.

ABKCO Films will also drop a deluxe box set August 21 featuring 4K restorations of Jodorowsky classics, supervised by the director using the original 35mm elements, as well as “Psychomagic, A Healing Art.” Here’s a synopsis:

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“‘Psychomagic, A Healing Art’ is an intimate exploration of the visionary director’s theory of trauma therapy. Jodorowsky’s unique concept of healing uses performance art as a vehicle to counter deep, debilitating psychic suffering with literal “acts of confrontation” in real world applications.

Drawing from a life-long study of philosophy, psychology, ethnology, and world religions, from Freud to Shamans, from Kabbalah to Gurdjieff and everything in between, Jodorowsky works directly with people in pain who are eager to face, resolve and transcend their personal dilemmas through the use of radical performative art therapy. The film illuminates the Maestro’s vision with themes evident since the start of his career, while contemporaneously breaking the wall between reality and performance. His healing concepts extend beyond the individual to the global, offering humanity a collective catharsis to a higher consciousness.”

“The world is ill. We need to make therapy pictures,” said Jodorowsky of his work. “If art is not a medicine for society, it’s a poison.”

Jodorowsky’s relationship with ABKCO Films dates back to 1970 with the release of “El Topo,” the psychedelic western that remains a midnight movie staple to this day. The studio has also packed the upcoming box set with plenty of extras, including the 1957 short film “Le Cravate,” which is a mime adaptation of a Thomas Mann story, along with new interviews with Jodorowsky’s closest collaborators, and a limited-edition book.

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