Still from Maximum Tolerated Dose
Still from Maximum Tolerated Dose
 

On Demand

Maximum Tolerated Dose

by Karol Orzechowski
A poetic intervention in the debate on animal rights, this unique and exquisite film explores the psychic and ethical fallout from animal lab testing.
2012  ·  1h30m  ·  Canada
English
About the Film
Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD): An animal / human experiment to find the highest dose of a chemical that, when administered to a group of test subjects in a clinical trial, does not result in a fatality due to short-term toxicity. This dose is then used for longer-term safety studies of the same species, lasting anywhere from two years to a lifetime. The MTD test is controversial, however, in part because of difficulties in extrapolating findings to more realistic doses, and in extrapolating results from animals to humans. Maximum Tolerated Dose is the first feature-length documentary by Decipher Films. Equal parts found-footage mash-up, verité investigation, and artful meditation, the film charts the lives of both humans and non-humans who have experienced animal testing first-hand, with hauntingly honest testimony of scientists and lab technicians whose ethics demanded they choose a different path, as well as the simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of animals who have seen both sides of the cage. MTD aims to re-ignite the debate about animal testing by bringing these rarely-heard perspectives to the fore.
Upcoming Screenings

Stay tuned for upcoming screenings!

Festivals and Awards
2012
Artivist Film Festival, California, Best Feature Animal Advocacy
2012
London, Public Awareness Lush Prize
2013
World Community Film Festival, Official Selection
2013
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca NY, Official Selection
2013
International Film festival for Environment, Health, and Culture, Jakarta Indonesia, Official Selection
In the Press
Review
Rabble
Editor
Karol Orzechowski and Jonathan Eagan
Cinematographer
Jo-Anne McArthur and Guna Subramaniam
Producer
Jonathan Hodgson, Jennifer Bundock and Karol Orzechowski
Soundtrack Composer
Wyrd Visions and Bryan W. Bray
Film Related
About the Director

Karol Orzechowski

Karol Orzechowski is an image-maker currently based in Toronto, Ontario. Karol began doing photography as a youth, embedded in the punk rock scenes of Peterborough, Toronto, and Ottawa, where he slugged it out in sweaty clubs and basements and learned how to wrangle bands, and his own camera. Over time, his work has expanded to include a broader range of subject matter that reflects his growing interest in the relationship between images and the creation of meaning. In recent years, he has focused especially on animal issues as a place of investigation, while maintaining his interest in other political issues as well as his love of music photography. Karol tries to create images that do not dictate, but instead encourage active interpretation and further political engagement.
Karol’s current photography projects include Meet Me In The Bathroom, where he looks at portraiture and self-portraiture in bathrooms around the world, and a long-term project documenting independent mixed martial arts fighters.
Karol’s first feature-length documentary film, Maximum Tolerated Dose, featuring first-hand stories from the animal experimentation industry, was released in mid-2012. The film will be appearing at film festivals in late 2012 and throughout 2013.

 

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