One of the many documentaries to world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the six-part Netflix series Wild Wild Country, which was helmed by directors by Chapman and Maclain Way (The Battered Bastards of Baseball). While most of you reading this may not know the name Bhagwan Rajneesh, those who were around to watch the news in the early 1980s can tell you that he was a massive story around the country. That’s because Rajneesh and his followers spent $125 million back in 1981 to build Rajneeshpuram in in the Oregon desert, a 64,000-acre “utopia,” complete with a hospital, schools, restaurants, a shopping mall, and their own airport. What happened there and in the surrounding area is so far-fetched that you won’t believe it’s all true.

With the six, hourlong episodes hitting Netflix on March 16th, we’re happy to premiere the first trailer for this crazy-looking Netflix original documentary series. As you can see in the trailer, one of the great things about the show is the way the filmmakers weave footage from the actual events in alongside new interviews with the people involved. Back at Sundance, Chapman and Maclain Way told me they were given 300 hours of footage from the Oregon Historical Society, and that was one of the ways they first learned about the story and decided to work on the project.

Check out the trailer below, and definitely get ready to binge watch this documentary -- you won’t believe what you’re watching actually happened.

Here's more on the series:

Synopsis: When the world’s most controversial guru builds a utopian city in the Oregon desert, a massive conflict with local ranchers ensues; producing the first bioterror attack in US history, the largest case of illegal wiretapping ever recorded, and the world’s biggest collection of Rolls-Royce automobiles. Directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way. Mark Duplass (Duplass Brothers Productions) serves as Executive Producer.

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Featuring: Ma Anand Sheela, Jane Stork, Swami Prem Niren, John Silvertooth

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Image via Sundance Institute
wild-wild-country-netflix
Image via Sundance Institute

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