SYNOPSIS

Artist Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley) wakes to discover his wife Evelyn (Sarah Clarke) has died in their bed overnight. Brimming with magical realism, we enter a world in which the misconceptions of our belief in a solid reality are revealed. Space and time bend in a way to challenge the audience with what is real, what is illusion, and what is beyond...
This peaceful and hypnotic quiet is interrupted by the outside world and the threat of everyday, common reality (thanks to Oliver's art dealer played by cult icon Mink Stole).
ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT explores the mysteries which transcend our physical universe and open a doorway into a different dimension, where ultimately, in the aftermath of death, there is an evolution of life which expands awareness, serenity and inner peace.

​

FILM FESTIVALS, SCREENINGS, AWARDS:

FANTASPORTO (2022)

  *Nominated Best International Feature
BOSTON SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Winner Best Sound Design (Sebastián Zunino)

CRIMSON SCREEN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Winner Best Cinematography (Hanuman Brown-Eagle)

PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (2022) 

FESTIVAL CINE DEL MAR (Punta del Este, Uruguay, 2022)

  *Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)

  *Winner Best Actress (Sarah Clarke)

  *Winner Best Screenplay (Steve Balderson)

FILMOCRACY FEST LOS ANGELES (2022)

RENDERYARD FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
L.A. SCI-FI & HORROR FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)

XIII MONTEVIDEO FANTÁSTICO FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Official Feature Films Competition

BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA (2022)

ATLANTA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Winner Best Director (Steve Balderson)

GALACTICAT Fantastic (Tàrrega, Spain, 2022)

SALENTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (2022)

  *Nominated Best International Feature

  *Winner Best Soundtrack (Heather Schmidt)

​

​

REVIEWS

​

"9/10...it is an intimate journey that Balderson makes haunting, beautiful, and extraordinary. Berkeley’s acting is without flaw."

- FILM THREAT (Sabina Dana Plasse) read full review

​

"The experience of watching it transcends mere plot mechanics and character development and demands we experience this movie sensorially as much as intellectually."

- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas read full review

​

"From director Steve Balderson (Firecracker) comes a visually poetic experience in pure cinema in the tradition of the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stan Brakhage."

- Santa Fe New Mexican

​

"Dripping with theatricality... Spectacular.  Alchemy of the Spirit is a genre-bending ode to art and romance.  It's a visual love poem."

- Liz Whittemore, Reel News Daily  

​

"I am in love with this film and what Steve Balderson brings to the table visually and aesthetically.  And Xander Berkeley delivers an award-worthy performance; one of the best of his career."

- Debbie Lynn Elias, Behind the Lens

​

"Deftly and beautifully blurs the lines between character study, magical realism, and horror."

- Hollywood Times  

 

"The cinematography conveys this unreal vision through visual disruptions: veils, reflections, glaring light, a slippery sense of time. The colors—blues and yellows—are hypersaturated, as if Argento’s Suspiria were set in the daytime."

- Eva Rosenfeld, The Arts Fuse

​

"Impressive acting by the main actors, actress Sarah Clarke and actor-artist Xander Berkeley, presenting his own work and the reality behind creation, in an intricate, beautiful, sometimes lyrical piece of the best independent film making."

- Fantasporto Film Festival

​

"We are in our 70s, living outside Santa Fe, writer/painter/people of spirit. We were moved and inspired by Alchemy and its beautiful portrayal of the movement between grief and creativity, and the dance of life after life. We are 'in' the movie yet today. The generous presence of you and your creative team gave us a passage into both the work and the art of making the film. Thank you."

- Erica Kane and John Boland

​

"Achingly beautiful."

- Jeremy Knox

​

CAST

XANDER BERKELEY

SARAH CLARKE

WHIP HUBLEY

MINK STOLE

with

Jule Selbo

Alex Coppola

Matthew Delamater

​

CREW

Directed by STEVE BALDERSON

Cinematography by HANUMAN BROWN-EAGLE

Special Make-up Effects JAKE JACKSON

Production Design Xander Berkeley

Visual Effects by Nicolas McEntarfer

Edited by Jimmy Cohen

Music by Heather Schmidt

Sound Design by Sebastián Zunino

Produced by Fahad Alhumaid, Hanuman Brown-Eagle, Matthew Garrett, Jake Jackson, Nathanael Lentz

​

​

​

SHOT BY SHOT: ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT

Film Threat writes, "Balderson makes movies that are so gorgeous that it's not unreasonable to say that, cinematographically at least, he's the equal of an Argento or Kubrick in their prime. Some people have perfect vocal pitch, Steve has perfect visual composition."

​

In this coffee table book, Shot by Shot: Alchemy of the Spirit, we see every moment from visionary director Steve Balderson's film. Beautifully photographed by cinematographer Hanuman Brown-Eagle, each frame of the film is a work of art unto itself. This peek into the anatomy of a film's cinematographic composition is a must-have for all film aficionados.