In A Dream

Turn the corner of certain streets in Philadelphia and you may have to pinch yourself. Plastered (literally) across thousands of feet of wall is the life-work of Isaiah Zagar, a series of mosaics using scattered words, images, shards of glass and...

Dir. Jeremiah Zagar

USA 2008, 80 mins

Feat. Isaiah Zagar; Julia Zagar; Ezekiel Zagar

Turn the corner of certain streets in Philadelphia and you may have to pinch yourself. Plastered (literally) across thousands of feet of wall is the life-work of Isaiah Zagar, a series of mosaics using scattered words, images, shards of glass and dazzling colours. Beginning with the murals, In A Dream slowly widens its focus to build a raw, moving account of the love, turmoil and mental illness which helped to produce them, a family saga which is sketched out by the artist’s son through frank interviews with his parents and brother. Carefully avoiding the cliches of ‘my screwed-up life’ self-portraits, this exceptional documentary was shortlisted for an Oscar and features music by the Books, Explosions in the Sky and Efterklang.

Showing with Tacit (dir: Matt Watkins) a lovely time-lapse record of Lucy McLauchlan’s recent exhibition at the New Art Gallery Walsall.

Official webpage