In the Realms of the Unreal hits Theatres Jan 28th

In 1973, at a Catholic poorhouse in Chicago, an 81-year-old janitor quietly died.  His name was Henry Darger.  Just months earlier, he had moved from the room he had rented for over 40 years.  When his landlords cleaned out his place, they discovered paintings (over 300 brilliant watercolors, some over 10 feet long) and a 15,000-page fantasy novel about seven
angelic sisters who lead a rebellion against godless, child-enslaving men.

Today, Darger is considered to be one of America’s foremost outsider artists: an untaught artist working in isolation from the commercial or public eye.  His work is now exhibited and collected worldwide.  

The film includes interviews with the few who knew him.  So reclusive was Darger, acquaintances can’t agree upon whether his name was pronounced with a soft or hard "g."  One man suggests that Darger, who drew little girls with penises, probably did so because he had never seen a female naked.  Certainly no one knew this man had an imaginary life that was as exciting as his real life was tedious.  By day, he may have mopped floors.  But at night, he ruled a fantasy world in which good fought evil.

The film also includes readings from his novel and – ingeniously – computer animation of his paintings, bringing them alive, perhaps as they may have appeared in Darger’s mind.  Narration is by child actor Dakota Fanning and actor Larry Pine, animation production by Kara Vallow (TV’s The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and music by Jeff Beal (Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion).

In the Realms of the Unreal is being released in Canada by Mongrel Media.