The United States of Hoodoo

Directed by Oliver Hardt

The documentary explores how African-based spirituality has informed Americas popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests in turntable wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, performances and rituals. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, the 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