Marijuana is no longer the big issue it was a decade ago. But, most people don’t know the story behind the drive which led to its legalization. It’s the subject of a documentary being screened at a film festival in Santa Barbara this weekend.
The film is centered around activists with Oakland’s Oaksterdam University, who opened the world’s first cannabis university.
“American Pot Story: Oaksterdam is about a small group of people who are the reason for the huge change you see in cannabis policy in the last decade,” said Ravit Marcus. She, and filmmaker (and husband) Dan Katzir are the filmmakers behind the project.
“Nobody know about them. It just looks like one day it was illegal, and the next day there were pot stores everywhere,” said Marcus. “Nobody knows how this changed happened, unless they see the film.”
Marcus said it turned into a much bigger project than they had anticipated. It took about a decade. They followed the first statewide initiative which was defeated in 2012, and then returned to film the push for the second one, which was successful in 2016.
“When we started working on the film, people said it was going to take 50 years for any real movement on this issue,” said Marcus. “We had the idea that they had the right idea, and the time was right. The American people were ready.”
“Our dream was to make like a ‘Mr. Smith Goes To Washington’ movie in real life. That’s what I love about America…he can change the world…he has rights, so nobody can infringe on them,” said Katzir.
“I wanted to see if this was the real story,” said the Israeli filmmaker.
He said the documentary is about much more than the legalization of marijuana. He says it shows ordinary citizens can make change in America.
The filmmakers said those in the film believe one of the best things coming from the legalization is the decriminalization of marijuana.
They note many proponents feel their mission isn’t over, and they want legalization to also happen at the federal level. That may be another documentary for the filmmakers.
American Pot Story: Oaksterdam is being shown at 6:30 Saturday night, at the Santa Barbara Indie Film Festival. The festival is at the historic Alhecama Theater, in downtown Santa Barbara.
American Pot Story: Oaksterdam took more than a decade to produce, as it followed the long push for legalization. Read More