![JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLE'S TEMPLE JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLE'S TEMPLE](/storage/film-archive/12179/6779_jonesspeech.jpg)
JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLE'S TEMPLE
On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of preacher Jim Jones' Peoples Temple died by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in the largest mass suicide/murder in history.
On the surface, Jim Jones and his all-embracing, multiracial congregation espoused the values of a progressive, liberal society - the ultimate product of enlightenment values forged in the 60s. But in the summer of 1977, an article in New West magazine exposed a different picture - of physical, sexual and drug abuse, financial corruption and members being held against their will.
Using never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with two of the five survivors who escaped rather than kill themselves - including an interview with Jones' son - the film traces the passage of Jones and his followers from Indiana to California and, finally, to the remote jungles of Guyana, South America. This vivid documentary captures a misbegotten quest to build an ideal society and also a glimpse into the deepest recesses of human behaviour.
“Constitutes a revealing look at a poorly understood chapter in American history.” - Variety
D/P Stanley Nelson S Noland Walker, Marcia Smith WS Stanley Nelson TD video/2006/86mins
Stanley Nelson was born in USA in 1955. His films include The Murder of Emmett Till (2003) and Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice (2005).