Most Americans know a handful of mushrooms—the buttons, the portabella, the chanterelle—but the range of types is truly staggering, and documentarian Ron Mann want to educate you about their world. Using the Telluride Mushroom Festival as a base camp, Mann encounters an assortment of nerds, nuts, hipsters, tripsters, artists, chefs, musicians, foodies, foragers and seekers who all share a fascination with fungus. And while the hallucinogenic effects of some 'shrooms are clearly a draw to many in this subculture (and mushroom expert Gary Lincoff wonderfully describes his first experience, which took him all the way to the Andromeda galaxy), Know Your Mushrooms focuses just as much on the culinary side, and the scientific miracles lowly fungi may herald, from environmental cleanup to curing cancer. "As with all of Mann's films, his enthusiasm is infectious. He comes to praise mushrooms, not to bury them, and long may his frying pan sizzle." (Toronto Star) With a soundtrack by the Flaming Lips! more at sphinxproductions.com/films/mushrooms 35mm
2009, color, 1 hour 13 minutes, Canada