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The half-animated, half-live-action short documentary You’ve Never Been Completely Honest (2022) chronicles a disturbing story at the advent of the oft-overlapping self-help and multilevel-marketing industries. Rendered in gut-wrenching detail by the US director Joey Izzo, the film recalls a four-day ‘leadership seminar’ in 1970 in Palo Alto, California, for male employees of the the multilevel cosmetics marketing company Holiday Magic Inc. Izzo builds his intentionally unpleasant visuals around a never-before-heard recording of an interview with a man named Gene Church, who attended the seminar and later wrote about his experience. Through Church’s harrowing account, Izzo depicts how this seemingly benign-sounding work event descended into violence, depravity and nearly death – all without losing a single participant before its end. The film ultimately connects the story to the rise of the modern multibillion-dollar self-help industry, providing some unsettling insights into social psychology and group dynamics that are still relevant today.
Director: Joey Izzo
Producers: Andy Ruse, Jesy Odio
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Work
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14 minutes
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Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes
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Cognition and intelligence
What’s this buzz about bees having culture? Inside a groundbreaking experiment
8 minutes
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Earth science and climate
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22 minutes
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The ancient world
An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub
2 minutes
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Ethics
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
6 minutes
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes
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Love and friendship
After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter
25 minutes
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Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
19 minutes