American Mystic
World Premiere

American Mystic

| USA | 80 MINUTES | English
Female Director(s), Documentary

Set against a vivid backdrop of bucolic rural landscapes, American Mystic weaves together the stories of three young Americans exploring alternative religion. Chuck is a Native American sundancer and new father striving to balance his religious practice and family responsibilities in the South Dakota badlands; Morpheus is a pagan priestess who finds spirituality in the earthy terrain of California mining country; and Kublai explores Spiritualism in upstate New York, a modern incarnation of the area's storied history of religious revivalism.

Alex Mar's meditative documentary artfully sews together its subjects' introspections with the landscapes of their quintessentially American districts. Their reflections are intercut with their work on the farm, drives along deserted highway, and hikes through mountain vistas. Gently applying these tropes of Americana to her story of fringe communities, Mar crafts a poetic tapestry of religious plurality, serving as a complement to prevalent depictions of religious America as homogenous and Christian. Chuck, Morpheus, and Kublai pursue religious insight in disparate, exceptional ways, but are united in a uniquely American vision of transcendence.


Cast & Credits
Directed by
Alex Mar and Alex Mar
Alex Mar graduated from Harvard University with a background in journalism, production, and video art. She worked as a producer for MTV News and an editor for Rolling Stone before cofounding Empire 8 Productions in 2008. American Mystic is her feature debut.
Editor
Andy Grieve
Director of Photography
Gregory Mitnick
Executive Producer
Jack Turner, Cathy Unruh
Producer
Nicholas Shumaker, Alex Mar
Director
Alex Mar

Contacts
Sales Contact
Michael Thornton
Forward Entertainment
New York, NY 10128
Phone: 212 300 6677
info@forwardentertainment.us
Producer
Nicholas Shumaker
Empire 8 Productions
New York, NY 10007
Phone: 917 386 5333
nshumaker@empire8.net
* Rush Tickets available at venue except for
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The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.

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