A HOLE IN THE HEAD

Film Genre: Documentary

Website: www.holeintheheadmovie.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/trepanation
YouTube: www.youtube.com/trepanned
Nextcat: www.nextcat.com/holeinthehead

Producer: Cevin Soling

Released By: Spectacle Films

Awards: Best Documentary at the Atlantic City & Brooklyn Film Festivals

About The Documentary

A Hole In The Head is an hour long documentary about trepanation - the process of boring a hole in the skull. A Hole In The Head examines the development of "modern" trepanation as used by people in the United Kingdom, the United States, and The Netherlands for the purpose of attaining a higher level of consciousness. This procedure, used by the ancient Egyptians, Incas, and others, is believed by the voluntarily trepanned to allow for renewed brain pulsations that increase brain blood volume and thereby improve brain function. Interviews regarding the history and efficacy of the procedure are also held with some of the world's most respected neurosurgeons and anthropologists.

Cevin Soling is the producer of the documentary, which won the Best Documentary Award at both the Atlantic City Film Festival and the Brooklyn International Film Festival. A Hole In The Head was broadcast on the Discovery and Learning Channels and is now available on DVD.

Review Highlights

"I don't think of myself as squeamish, yet this twisted documentary had me balled up into a fetal position and begging for mercy like a little sissy baby... I can honestly say I would rather sit through an autopsy than to watch a documentary footage of some poor African woman having a chunk of her noggin removed without the benefit of anesthesia! Unbelievably graphic and very gory. Check please!"
- Hollywood Outsider

"As far as technique goes, A Hole In The Head tends to be over-reliant on the outdated "talking heads" style of documentary so out of vogue these days, but the content is so bizarre and the interview subjects so unfanthomably eccentric that the staid approach doesn't matter. This is compelling viewing, especially recommended for fans of recent shock-does like Stick, Hated, Chickenhawk, and Crumb."
- AWCM (link)

Producer Cevin Soling

Writer/director/producer/artist Cevin Soling, President of Spectacle Films, Xemu Records, and World Watch Productions is involved in many facets of the entertainment industry.

Soling wrote, directed, and produced the feature film, THE WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS, winner of the best experimental feature film award at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, the Stoney Award for best documentary from High Times, as well as the "Clear Creek" Honorable Mention Award at the Winslow International Film Festival. Soling also executive produced the independent feature RELAX, IT'S JUST SEX, starring Jennifer Tilly, Lori Petty and Cynda Williams, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was seen on HBO and Showtime.

Currently Soling is directing four film projects: a two-part documentary on the oppression of children in America entitled THE WAR ON KIDS, a documentary on the Ik tribe in Northern Uganda, and a documentary on the John Frum cargo cult of Vanuatu, all of which are in postproduction. A documentary about the staging of a Swan Lake ballet performance featuring actual llamas in the roles of the swans and a jug band performing the Tchaikovsky score is in production. A preview of this project aired on PBS in Indiana, where the documentary is being shot.

In addition to his film work, Soling has been active in the music industry via his record company, Xemu Records. He currently writes and performs with The Love Kills Theory - a band inspired by the Situationist philosophical movement and as well as bio-genetic studies on the evolution of despair. Their debut CD, Happy Suicide, Jim!, was released in January of 2007.

Recent News

Trepanning the Light Fantastic: Cevin Soling gives you A Hole In The Head

Documentary Examines Benefits Of Drilling A Hole In One's Head

NY Musician Releases 'A Hole In The Head' Documentary on Trepanation

Documentary Trailer

A Few Words From The Producer

CEVIN SOLING, Producer & Executive Producer of A HOLE IN THE HEAD, gives some insights into why he made the documentary, what he feels people will learn from watching it and how trepanation compares to modern consciousness expansion methods.

"I first became aware of trepanation through an interview with Paul McCartney who mentioned that John Lennon wanted to have it done and suggested that the two of them have the operation. I later learned more from a book by author Donna Kossy who indicated the procedure might actually work to expand consciousness. It was the fact that it might have beneficial effects to enhance one's state of mind that intrigued me. Amazingly, no one had done a proper study to find out the veracity of the claims, so I decided to make the film to find an answer."

"Trepanation as a procedure has been around for thousands of years and was not performed for the superstitious reasons some attribute today. I hope that the film teaches people not to infantilize our ancestors and also to appreciate just how far back attempts at seeking to expand consciousness go."

"I can think of many things that are commonplace today which I think are harder to justify than trepanation. Body piercing and tattooing are other forms of body mutilation, though we use the polite word 'modification'. There is a psychological response that accompanies these acts for the people who have it done which is why they are drawn to them. The effect of trepanation might be a similar mechanism, or it may be physiological as well. Evidence of the latter would substantiate the procedure to a greater degree than the recreational forms of body alteration. Using drugs as a means to attain a state of consciousness has the drawbacks of being temporary and having side effects that either interfere with brain function or adversely affect health."