''Breaking the Taboo'' is a 2011

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the

War on Drugs The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...

. The film recounts the history of the war on drugs, beginning with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. ''Breaking the Taboo'' explores the conclusion reached by the

Global Commission on Drug Policy The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) is a panel of world leaders and intellectuals, with a Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. In June 2011, the commission said: "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for i ...

in 2011 that

drug liberalization Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug ...

is the best approach in dealing with drug policy.

Overview

The documentary features interviews with a number of former heads of state, including U.S. Presidents

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and leaders from Colombia, Switzerland, Norway and Mexico. Filmed in 18 cities around the world, ''Breaking the Taboo'' has interviews with 168 subjects, including police, inmates, former soldier and now Somerset-based history teacher Robert Gallimore and rehabilitated addicts. The film contains scenery from around the world varying from FARC coca plantations in the Colombian jungle, to Amsterdam coffeeshops, to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and the bloated U.S. prison system. ''Breaking the Taboo'' was first released in Brazil in 2011 as ''Quebrando o Tabu''. The documentary was adapted for the American and European market in partnership with the production house Current Sponge, led by Sam Branson, son of the entrepreneur

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

. The English version was released on December 7, 2012 via YouTube for a one-month online run and is no longer available. An addendum to the end of the film notes the passage of laws legalizing cannabis in the US states of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Reception

Following its release in 2011, the film stimulated debate in Brazilian media, schools and the Brazilian congress, with a speech by senator

Eduardo Suplicy Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy (born 21 June 1941) is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil (PT). In the municipal elections of São Paulo in ...

. ''

Veja Veja may refer to : Places * Veja, a town in Lazio, central Italy; now Vejano comune * Veja, a village in Stănița Commune, Neamț County, Romania * Veja River, Romania * Veja State, a former princely state in present Gujarat, western India Perso ...

'' magazine published a nine-page article on the film calling it "a meticulously crafted report made over two years with 168 interviews from personalities, including

, Drauzio Varella, and Gael García Bernal, and others less known, but no less credible." The television show '' Fantástico'' of

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Gr ...

, Brazil's largest TV network, aired an eight-minute report on the film and later polled the viewers on the subject, 57% voted in favor of

legalization Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal. Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...

.FHC defende regulamentação da maconha
'' Fantástico''. 29 May 2011. ''Trip'' magazine published a cover story on the film. The newspaper '' Folha de S.Paulo'' considered that the film had "A consistent argumentative route, not necessarily aligned with common sense". The film also had repercussions in the English newspaper ''The Guardian'': "The documentary highlights the perils of debating an issue so clouded by ideology and calls for an end to the stigmatization of the debate. It boasts the support of several former world leaders including Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter."

References

External links

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Youtube user
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Taboo 2011 films 2011 documentary films Bill Clinton Brazilian documentary films Documentary films about drugs Drug policy reform Jimmy Carter 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s English-language films

Overview

Reception

See also

References

External links