‘Psychomagic, a Healing Art’ Trailer: Alejandro Jodorowsky Explores the Wild World of Trauma Therapy

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

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Sky-diving, live burial, and body paint are just a few of the wild images seen in the first trailer for “Psychomagic, a Healing Art,” the new film from Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky. IndieWire shares the trailer exclusively below, ahead of the film’s VOD release on August 7 via Alamo on Demand, Alamo Drafthouse’s new digital platform.

The movie’s distributor ABKCO Films will drop a deluxe box set August 21 featuring 4K restorations of Jodorowsky classics such as “El Topo,” “Fando y Lis,” and “The Holy Mountain” 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.

Jodorowsky’s last film was 2016’s “Endless Poetry,” preceded by 2013’s “The Dance of Reality,” both of which will also be presented as part of a five-film retrospective presented by ABKCO Films on Alamo on Demand. 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.

Look for “Psychomagic, a Healing Art” beginning August 7 on Alamo on Demand, preceded by the retrospective that launched August 1. Watch the trailer for “Psychomagic” below.

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