In The Realms Of The Unreal: The Mystery Of Henry Darger
(Wellspring)

Henry Darger was a quiet man who worked at a Catholic charity mopping floors by day and went through life seemingly unnoticed by everyone. When he died in 1973, hundreds of paintings and a 15,000 page novel – possibly the longest ever written, was discovered in his apartment and Darger became a legend in the world of “outsider art.” Jessica Yu’s beautiful documentary examines what little is known of Darger’s life: he realized he was “feeble minded” at a young age and spent years in institutions where he retreated into his own head and began creating a fantasy world that explored themes of child enslavement and centered around the heroic exploits of the Vivian sisters who fought off their male oppressors. As excerpts of his novel are read by Dakota Fanning and Larry Pine, Kara Vallow and a team of computer animators bring Darger’s paintings to life with subtle gracefulness that retains much of the innocence and wonder of the stories. This is a fascinating portrait of a man who went through life without anyone knowing the correct pronunciation of his name, but who behind closed doors, lived a life most of us can never imagine.- David Bassin