JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE

Details

• Release Year: 2006
• Genre: Documentary
• Plot: On November 17, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan traveled to an isolated rain forest in Guyana to investigate the concerns of his San Francisco-area constituents. Their alarming stories focused on a jungle compound known as Jonestown, a group called the Peoples Temple, and their leader, Rev. Jim Jones. According to news filtering back to America, U.S. citizens were being held against their will in prison camp conditions. There were allegations of physical and sexual abuse and even rumors of a planned mass suicide. Congressman Ryan, an impassioned human rights advocate, decided to get the facts for himself. Within forty-eight hours, Ryan, Jones, and over 900 Jonestown settlers were dead - causalities of the largest mass murder-suicide in history. In the next few days, grizzly details of cyanide-laced soft drinks and disturbing images of children poisoned by their parents emerged from the jungle. American Experience goes beyond the salacious headlines to provide a revealing portrait of Jones, his followers, and the times that produced the calamity in the Guyanese jungle, creating a compelling narrative told primarily by the people who know the story firsthand - Jonestown survivors, former Peoples Temple members, relatives of those who died, and journalists.
• Runtime: 1:30
• Company: PBS Home Video
• Media Format: Series