Dream of the Holy Fool is a mythic street film with thriller momentum and dark humor. Set on a divided Philly block on the verge of a riot, a wandering holy fool moves between neighbors split by a shuttered plant and a looming EPA decision, gambling he can plant something real before the block tears itself apart.
Walk the block with me and hear where this film came from, and how you can be part of it.
Give any amount through Fractured Atlas, the film's 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. Contributions are tax-deductible.
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Dream of the Holy Fool is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions for the charitable purposes of this project are made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Merch purchases are not tax-deductible.
A screening of footage from our first shoot. Come see what we made.
I wrote the character of Era, a modern-day holy fool, because I needed to ask myself a blunt question.
Is there still room for a spiritual perspective in a world that feels overfull of hatred and anger?
Era arrives with almost nothing. No stable identity, no possessions, no family, no place to belong. He chooses poverty and lives by a belief in the universality of life, the idea that every person is part of the same sacred fabric. In the beginning, the neighbors reject him. He is strange, inconvenient, and impossible to categorize. But he persists, not by preaching, and not by saving anyone, but by making contact. Neighbor by neighbor, his presence interrupts their scripts. His way of seeing challenges them, provokes them, and slowly changes what they are willing to admit about themselves.
By the end, the film leaves one question hanging in the air — if we have no room for a spiritual perspective, what are we actually left with?
Gritty Philly street realism shot through with grace. Imagine Joan of Arc dropped into the middle of Do the Right Thing.
Before building the feature, I shot a proof-of-concept short to establish the world, the tone, and the central character. Watch the film that started the Holy Fool universe, free — sign up for the newsletter and it's on its way.
