AllMovie

Award-winning filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential) investigates the miraculous world of fungi with this documentary shot largely at the Telluride Mushroom Festival in Colorado. It was during a conversation with his friend Jim Jarmusch that Mann first learned of the bizarre sub-culture surrounding the mushroom, and once his interest was peaked there was no turning back. Some of the oldest and largest living organisms on the planet are fungi, but where did mushrooms come from, and could they hold secrets that we've yet to discover? Recently, a new breed of maverick scientists have made the claim that mushrooms possess the power to cleanse sites corroded by toxins, and that they could be used as a "clean" pesticide among other things. By traveling to the Telluride Mushroom Festival and speaking with festival president Gary Lincoff, as well as numerous other mycophiles (mushroom aficionados) who frequent the event, Mann reveals why the popular fungus has emerged to become one of our greatest mysteries. A neo-psychedelic soundtrack by The Flaming Lips and campy clips from such features as Attack of the Mushroom People keeps the mood whimsical as Mann explores every wonderful facet of the mushroom kingdom.