Murder in the Thirst

An examination of the history of the poppy plant and three of its deadliest derivatives. In ancient times, the poppy was considered divine, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, its addicting and lethal qualities caused unprecedented national outrage, social upheaval, and even sparked two wars. Used by the upper classes as patent medicines, heroin became the bane of society when the working class began to use it. In 1914, Federal law banned heroin and opium, and restricted morphine to medicinal use.

The ivory trade is a cruel business. Every 15 minutes an elephant is killed for its ivory. 65 percent of the continents elephants have been killed for their ivory in the last five years. Crime syndicates involved in gun, drug and human trafficking reap huge profits from the ivory trade. So do dangerous terrorist groups including Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army and al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab. These terrorists threaten the safety and stability of Africa and the national security of the United States.

This Svensk Film Production, released in the US in March of 1939 in a 105-minute version, depicts every noteworthy event (in the eyes of the filmmakers) in Sweden, from the death of King Oscar II in 1907 to the celebration of the 80th birthday of King Gustave V in Stockholm in June 1938. This film is comprised largely of newsreel clips intermixed with the fictional story of the family lives of a working man and a well-to-do newspaper editor through two generations, with a special significance in the showing of the development of the social-democratic form of government in Sweden.

June 27th, 1945. The norwegian resistance fighter Kai Holst travels to Stockholm. According to witnesses, he's going to "sort something out", and someone will be pale by the results. A day later he is found dead on a stairwell, shot in the head with his own gun. Despite mysterious circumstances, the police quickly concludes with suicide, and the case is dismissed. Case files are classified, and friends and family who ask questions are threatened.In this film, the investigation is resumed 68 years later. Through secret documents and old witness reports, Holst's last 24 hours alive are reconstructed, to find out what really happened.