THE UNITED STATES OF HOODOO

A film by OLIVER HARDT
Written by DARIUS JAMES and OLIVER HARDT
Original Music by ARTO LINDSAY & RABOTNIK
Documentary, Germany 2012, 100 minutes, HD

A road trip to the spiritual sources of black popular culture in America

Featuring Darius James and Ishmael Reed, Nick Cave, Val Jeanty, Shantrelle P. Lewis, Danny Simmons, Kanene Holder, Steve LaVere, David "Goat" Carson, Hassan Sekou Allen, Sallie Ann Glassman and others

The United States of Hoodoo is a film about how African based spirituality has informed America´s popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests itself in turn-table wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, rituals and performances. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. It makes palpable the vital richness that ‘culture blending’ can bring to a globalized world. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, miracle healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, this documentary draws a picture of a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality.

Theatrical release in Germany: July 2012