In the Realms of the Unreal
| In the Realms of the Unreal | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Jessica Yu |
| Produced by | Susan West |
| Written by | Jessica Yu |
| Starring |
Larry Pine Frier McCollister Wally Wingert Janice Hong |
| Narrated by | Dakota Fanning |
| Music by | Jeff Beal |
| Cinematography | Russell Harper |
| Edited by | Jessica Yu |
| Distributed by |
Forward Entertainment Mongrel Media Wellspring Media |
Release dates | 2004 |
Running time | 81 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
In the Realms of the Unreal (2004) is documentary film directed by Jessica Yu about American outsider artist Henry Darger (1892–1973).
An obscure janitor during his life, Darger is known for the posthumous discovery of his elaborate 15,145-page fantasy manuscript entitled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, along with several hundred watercolor paintings and other drawings illustrating the story.
The film won the National Film Board Award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Vancouver International Film Festival.
Content
The film's style is atypical of a documentary. Because there are only four known photographs of Darger, and because of his reclusive lifestyle, the film is mostly a narrated biographical account, accompanied by animated versions of events from his magnum opus, which is also surveyed in detail. Interviews with his few neighbors and other acquaintances are included.