Jodorowsky's Dune

In 1975, empowered by two very profitable cult films, Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain) attempted to mount a massive, acid-laced production of Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic Dune. He worked on the film for more than two years, but failed to secure the final funding (he caught Hollywood in a pre-Star Wars phase of rare fiscal restraint and fantasy aversion), despite assembling a group of “spiritual warrior” collaborators (including Moebius, H.R. Giger and Dan O'Bannon), who would go on to shape Hollywood's future. This affectionate documentary from director Frank Pavich tells the story of that lost film, offering copious storyboards and conceptual art, and yet it wisely makes the lively 80-something Jodorowsky the centerpiece. Jodorowsky claims that he was “searching for the light of genius” in his Dune collaborators, and after four decades, that light has finally been allowed to shine.