Two decades ago, Paul Davids' feature documentary "The Artist and the Shaman" had its US premiere at the Sedona International Film Festival.
In this film, Native American traditions come to life as a noted Sedona shaman (Rahelio) enables an artist (Paul Jeffrey Davids) to recover from grief over his father’s death by painting Sedona in a spiritually uplifting way accompanied by ceremonial music.
Paul Davids' late father, Professor Jules Davids of Georgetown University, was a secret writer for President Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize winning book "Profiles in Courage" and the film tells his story too. But at heart this is an unusual “buddy movie” about an artist turning to a Shaman for spiritual rejuvenation — an intimate, music-filled film about art and beauty, inward healing, growth and transcendence that joins two cultures.
One of the stars, at three years old, is Tonatiuh, the son of Rahelio and Joanna Malanos, whose electrifying presence in the film introduces a profound mystery.
At the Q and A after the screening you will meet not only producers Paul and Hollace Davids, but also Rahelio and Joanna — and Tonatiuh who is now in his 20's, all of them Sedona residents.
Note that eight of the feature films of Paul Davids have been shown at the Mary Fisher Theater over the past year, including "Jesus in India," "Starry Night," "Marilyn Monroe Declassified" and the three-part "Life After Death Project."