CWC Docs: Monkey on a Stick

Monkey on a Stick is a feature-length hybrid documentary/drama exposé of the criminal activity that took place in and around the Hare Krishna movement in the West in the 1970s and 1980s. Adapted from the New York Times-bestselling book by John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson, it tells the story of devotees like Nori Muster, a young woman from Los Angeles who joins the movement to find inner peace and spiritual meaning, only to discover a rotting heart of criminal activity within ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Drug smuggling, stockpiling weapons, and the subjugation and exploitation of female devotees metastasizes to widespread child sexual abuse and murder, all under the watch of the eleven gurus who run the movement. Monkey on a Stick investigates how and why human nature can inspire the purest spiritual dreams in some, while leading others to manifest our darkest, basest nightmares.

Filmmaker Jason Lapeyre and documentary subject/historical advisor/UCSB alumnus Nori Muster will join moderator David Gartrell (UCSB Library) for a post-screening discussion of Monkey on a Stick.