Event

We Are Wizards

DIR JOSH KOURY
DOCUMENTARY VIDEO 79:00 MIN NEW YORK PREMIERE

"The snake has no parents, is dangerous, and is beautiful." - WIZARD PEOPLE, dear readers

We think Harry Potter is good news. Thanks to the Boy Who Lived (and the single mother who imagined him), millions of kids and adults all over the world are reading again. And that's not all they're doing: We Are Wizards looks at some of the more unusual fans who have boosted the HP enterprise.

We are introduced to Wizard Rock, a sprawling group of musicians who look for inspiration entirely from within the wizarding world. There's Harry and the Potters, two brothers who started it all in 2002; Draco and the Malfoys, who write songs from the point of view of Harry's scowling nemesis, Draco Malfoy; and The Hungarian Horntails, named after a particularly testy breed of dragon, whose members are both under 10 years of age. We meet Heather Lawver, founder of a popular Potter fansite who, in true Gryffindor fashion, organized a boycott against Warner Brothers after the studio sent her website a cease and desist letter for copyright violation.

And of course Brad Neely, well-loved by NYUFF as the comedic genius behind WIZARD PEOPLE, dear readers, the overdubbed audio version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone which premiered at this festival in 2004 (and had its own run-in with the WB in 2005).

Harry Potter's universe is noted for its outlandish characters, and the world of its fans is no less diverse; indeed this movie is for those who love HP as well as for those just baffled by the whole thing.