\n\tWhen Gabe Polsky pitched his latest documentary, \u201cThe Man Who Saves the World?\u201d to the major streamers, they weren\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI made a sizzle and took it to all the usual suspects,\u201d Polsky says. \u201cFor them, it felt like it was just too far out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRevolving around Patrick McCollum, a 75-year-old eccentric peace activist who believes he has been chosen by an ancient prophecy to help unite the Indigenous tribes of South America to save the Amazon and the planet from environmental ruin, the 85-minute film is undeniably surreal. Even Polsky was initially skeptical of McCollum, a jack-of-all-trades ordained chaplain who, prior to facilitating peace in countries around the world, served as a prison chaplain to both Charles Manson and the Menendez brothers and designed jewelry for members of the British royal family.<\/p>\n
\n\tProducer Doug DeLuca introduced Polsky to McCollum in 2023.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDoug knows some wacky people in this world, and he said, \u2018Look. I heard this story. It\u2019s really crazy, but I think maybe you should get on the phone and listen and hear this guy out,\u201d Polsky says. \u201cI did, and right away, I was like this guy is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite his initial hesitations, Polsky (\u201cRed Army\u201d) ultimately decided to follow McCollum as he attempted to fulfill the prophecy.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI really had nothing to lose except my time,\u201d Polsky says.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe director appears in the doc and often voices his skepticism, which creates a push-and-pull dynamic between him and McCollum. Just when Polsky is finding it impossible not to feel like he\u2019s part of a lunatic\u2019s sham, Jane Goodall appears.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI can honestly say Patrick is one of the most extraordinary and inspirational people I have had the good fortune to know and count as a true friend,\u201d Goodall says in the film.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cJane was an absolute game changer,\u201d Polsky says. \u201cI knew that it would be very difficult for this film to work if I didn\u2019t have her because his story\u2019s so unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTo say that \u201cThe Man Who Saves the World?\u201d is funny is an understatement. It\u2019s a hilarious character study that tackles environmental issues. But despite being that rare doc that combines humor with urgency, Polasky\u2019s inability to find a mainstream distributor has made it hard to find an audience for the film. So, the director asked a few Hollywood heavyweights, including Peter Farrelly<\/a>, Danny McBride<\/a> and David Gordon Green<\/a>, to help get the word out about his doc by signing on as executive producers.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDanny and I were watching cuts and saying, this is awesome. How do we find a home for this doc, knowing that there\u2019s a unique spirit and eccentric quality to it that doesn\u2019t necessarily check the box of your average film festival depressing doc,\u201d says Green. \u201cIt\u2019s something different, and that\u2019s what our company ends up just loving to support.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMcBride said that his and Green\u2019s Rough House Pictures, which executive produced the 2023 HBO doc \u201cTelemarketers,\u201d try to champion filmmakers with voices that they believe in.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf weirdly our involvement can help them reach a larger audience, it feels like it\u2019s our duty to participate and lend a hand wherever we can,\u201d says McBride.<\/p>\n \n\tIn July, Area 23a, the company known for distributing the 2019 doc \u201cFantastic Fungi,\u201d signed on to do a hybrid, experience based release of \u201cThe Man Who Saves the World?\u201d across the country in cities including Portland and Seattle. On Oct. 17, the film kicked off an awards-qualifying theatrical run in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe documentary is a great journey and it\u2019s hopeful,\u201d says Farrelly. \u201cThat is the main reason I wanted to be involved with this film. It\u2019s such a hopeful vision, and that\u2019s what we need right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe Man Who Saves the World?\u201d is now playing in limited release in theaters, starting with New York. The film will expand to additional\u00a0markets in November with theatrical runs in Chicago and Orlando and major theatrical events in Minneapolis and Charleston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Gabe Polsky pitched his latest documentary, \u201cThe Man Who Saves the World?\u201d to the major streamers, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[136338,136339,44884,88,206,136340],"class_list":{"0":"post-250129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-danny-mcbride","9":"tag-david-gordon-green","10":"tag-documentaries-to-watch","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-peter-farrelly"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}