Départ de New York, où le vaudou est intégré dans les cercles intellectuels et contribue à la créativité urbaine. Puis cap sur le Mississipi avec ses chanteurs de blues et la Nouvelle-Orléans, capitale du vaudou. À Oakland, sur la côte ouest, rencontre avec le mentor de Darius. Après deux étapes à Seattle et à Chicago, retour vers la Grande Pomme. Tout au long de cette boucle, musiciens, écrivains, artistes, sorciers, guérisseurs, cuisiniers ou simples adeptes témoignent d’une fantastique vitalité des pratiques et des rituels vaudous. Auteur d’un livre décapant sur la blaxploitation et du roman Negrophobia, Darius James nous emporte dans cette escapade avec humour et faconde littéraire.

Origine : ZDF

A road trip to the black roots of American culture

A film by OLIVER HARDT

Written by DARIUS JAMES and OLIVER HARDT

Featuring Darius James and Ishmael Reed, Nick Cave, Val Jeanty, Shantrelle P. Lewis, Danny Simmons, Sallie Ann Glassman, Kanene Holder, Steve LaVere, David « Goat » Carson, Hassan Sekou Allen



The United States of Hoodoo is a film about how African based spirituality has influenced America’s popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America’s shores. Their spirit now manifests itself in turn-table wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, rituals and performances. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, miracle healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, this documentary explores a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality.

Germany 2012, 100 minutes, Documentary

A film by OLIVER HARDT

Written by DARIUS JAMES and OLIVER HARDT

Original Music by ARTO LINDSAY & RABOTNIK

Original Music by Arto Lindsay & Rabotnik

Produced by CHRISTEL BRUNN, OLIVER HARDT, ROBERT MALZAHN, SEBASTIAN POPP
Support & Editing by MARTIN HOFFMANN with RGB-Storynetwork


Cinematography: Harald Schmuck
Editing, Color Grading, Polishing: Martin Hoffmann
Graphic Design: Thomas Lauterberg
Titling: Michael Wagner
Still Photography: Ayana V. Jackson

Narrator English Version: Darius James
Narrator German Version: Reiner Schoene

Sound Recording and Pre-Mix: Tobias Schinko
Voice Recording: Jockel Merholz
Sound Mixing: Oliver Achatz

Creative Producer: Christel Brunn
Executive Producers: Sebastian Popp, Robert Malzahn
Co-Executive Producer: Christel Brunn
Co-Producer: Oliver Hardt
Associate Producer: Melanie Flemming
Associate Producer USA: Petra Hammerl-Mistry
Production Assistants: Melanie Jaenecke, Bianca Stich

Production company: Stoked Film, Frankfurt
In coproduction with tvt. film+vfx and signature films
In coproduction with ZDF in association with arte

Commissioning Editor: Kathrin Brinkmann


GERMANY premiere – July 2012, theatrical release in Germany
USA premiere – August 2012, BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA
AFRICA premiere – March 2013, iRep International Documentary Filmfestival, Lagos, Nigeria
EUROPE premiere – May 2013, Planete Doc Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
AUSTRALIA premiere – July 2013, Revelation Perth International Film Festival