REVIEWS OF ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT

​

"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

​

"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

​

"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  

 

"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

​

Starring

XANDER BERKELEY

SARAH CLARKE

WHIP HUBLEY

MINK STOLE

with

Jule Selbo

Alex Coppola

Matthew Delamater

​

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

​

Synopsis

The Great American 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... 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.

​

PAST SCREENINGS

FANTASPORTO 2022
SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL 2022

BOSTON SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL 2022

​

​