A creative recasting of Bronson Alcott’s nineteenth-century utopian experiment in communal living for a group of transcendentalists, Fruitlands was shot in a preserved Shaker village and other Massachusetts locations. Director Katsarou employs long takes and slow camera movements to capture the interaction of characters with the natural environment, as well as dream imagery and fragmented narrative inspired by Bresson, Tarkovsky, and Antonioni to render the spirituality and inner drama of the experience.

This new film by the director of Salaam Bombay! and Mississippi Masala takes the documentary to the far edges of credibility and delight. Bombay residents, mostly middle class, meet early in the morning with their instructors to perform a series of laughing exercises. The techniques are taught in the schools as well. Uninhibited laughter seems to cure bodily disease and to provide relief from the oppressions of everyday life and release from tragic personal histories. We see a lot of Bombay in the film and meet some captivating individuals. Audiences will be challenged to remain uninfected by the laughter.