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Long before celebrities snatched up property in Scottsdale and snake-oil salesman James Ray stood trial for sweat-lodge deaths in Sedona, mavericks and hucksters were staking a claim on Arizona’s scanty resources, constructing cake-shaped buildings, and burying themselves under pyramids.
Two such visionaries — mega-developer Del Webb, the powerhouse builder of Sun City, and Wilhelm Reich, the controversial psychiatrist who supposedly discovered a primordial cosmic energy he named “Orgone,” — are pitted against each other in David Sherman’s film Wasteland Utopias.
Interweaving found footage and interviews, the award-winning experimental filmmaker explores the impact of urbanization on Arizona’s Sonoran Desert by juxtaposing the stories of these two radically different utopian thinkers.
The cinematic duel begins at 7 p.m.; viewers are invited to a Q&A session with Sherman after the film.
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Wed., July 13, 7 p.m., 2011
