Magic Trip

Director: Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney

Institute History

  • 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Ever wonder what it’s like to drop acid? Look no further. In 1964, Ken Kesey, celebrated author of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, took a mythic excursion across America from the West to the East Coast. Fueled by massive doses of LSD, Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters embarked on the ultimate road trip. Their destination: Tomorrowland at the New York World's Fair. Steered by Jack Kerouac's infamous companion, Neal Cassady, Kesey and company rigged their psychedelic bus with cameras and a sound system and set out to chronicle a journey that took them through space, time, and the boundless landscape of the imagination.
Forty-plus years later, Academy Award–winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) and codirector Alison Ellwood unearthed Kesey’s footage, audio recordings, and photographs and created a fully immersive cinematic experience. This Magic Trip is guaranteed to blow your mind.

— David Courier

Screening Details

Credits

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