Journeyman Filmmaker Steve Balderson Debuts Two Films Back to Back in Los Angeles: West Coast Premiere of Horror-tinged ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT at Filmocracy III July 15; THREE’S COMPANY World Premieres at 40th Anniversary Outfest July 18 Xander Berkeley in ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT courtesy Dikenga Films Veteran filmmaker Steve Balderson will have a rare alignment of his latest works a few days apart at two separate film Festivals this July in Los Angeles. On July 15, his latest feature, the brooding and beautiful ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT starring Xander Berkeley, Sarah Clarke and Mink Stole—will have its West Coast premiere at boutique film festival Filmocracy Fest III, with an in-person screening Friday July 15 and digital presentation July 14-17. Three days later, July 18, Outfest, one of the world’s premier LGBTQ+ film festivals, will host the world premiere screening of the experimental, erotic THREE’S COMPANY alongside a digital presentation online July 19-21. Sarah Clarke in ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT Midway through its festival journey, ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT deftly and beautifully blurs the lines between character study, magical realism and horror. In the film, renowned artist Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley: The Walking Dead, TERMINATOR 2, AIR FORCE ONE) wakes to discover his wife Evelyn (Sarah Clarke: 24, TWILIGHT) has died in their bed overnight. Disoriented and grief-stricken, Oliver tells no one and attempts to preserve her body. Meanwhile, Oliver’s agent (Mink Stole: SERIAL MOM, HAIRSPRAY) calls with a big commission – a new sculpture for a leading museum. Oliver passionately and poetically creates the sculpture as a replica of Evelyn’s face—a death mask. As he works, Evelyn’s senses wake up one after the other – until she appears fully present. But is it really her? Or is Oliver hallucinating? ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT takes viewers to a world beyond death where the misconceptions of our belief in a solid reality are revealed, bending space and time in a way to challenge the audience with what is real, what is illusion, and what is beyond. The film has met with critical acclaim in its travels: “The experience of watching it transcends mere plot mechanics and character development and demands we experience this movie sensorially as much as intellectually.” – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Alliance of Women Film Journalists. “From director Steve Balderson (Firecracker) comes a visually poetic experience in pure cinema in the tradition of the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stan Brakhage.” – Santa Fe New Mexican “Dripping with theatricality…Spectacular. Alchemy of the Spirit is a genre-bending ode to art and romance. It’s a visual love poem.” – Liz Whittemore, Reel News Daily Romeo Jace and Jonah Wheeler in THREE’S COMPANY In the experimental and multi-sensory short film THREE’S COMPANY, Romeo Jace and Jonah Wheeler take voyeurism to the next level – inviting the audience to become an active participant. Balderson says of the film, “At the end of 2021, I had the opportunity to direct a series of doc shorts for YouTuber Davey Wavey at a gay tantric sex retreat in Hawaii. Until now I’ve never made a short… and I have to say much of the credit is due to the tantric sex experience between the two subjects in the film, which I documented, and the DP, trans woman Rose Bush aka Gladys Blum (who shot the 2020 Oscar-winning short doc COLLETTE). She filmed on a Cooks Anamorphic lens—the same lens STAR WARS was shot on. So I felt lucky to be on that set to both provide a light hand on the tiller and emotional support to the production.” Outfest says of the “Fellas that were in the Mood” shorts block in which THREE’s COMPANY screens, “Across an international spread of sumptuous visions from talented filmmakers stretching the limits of their medium, this host of eclectic characters navigate the politics of throupledom, dating app dilemmas, and how to choose the perfect bedroom partner for the first time. Not to mention, through immersive first person cinematography, the chance to invite the viewer (you!) in as a third. Join us for this voyeuristic voyage into only the most pleasurable of realms.” About Dikenga Films/Steve Balderson Film director, author, speaker, explorer and investigator, Steve Balderson has made more than a dozen feature films, published books and audio documentaries and lectured widely on film production and financing. Roger Ebert gave Steve’s film FIRECRACKER, starring Karen Black and Mike Patton, a Special Jury Award on his annual Best Films of the Year list. His first film, PEP SQUADpremiered at the Cannes Film Festival and became a 90’s cult classic. THE CASSEROLE CLUB, starring Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, is in the Library of Congress’ permanent collection. Steve ranks #47 on the IMDb’s Top 100Gay and Lesbian directors working today. Film Threat magazine says, “Balderson makes movies that are so gorgeous that it’s not unreasonable to say that, cinematographically at least; he’s the equal of an Argento or Kubrick in their prime.” Earlier this year, Steve’s book “How to Find Investors” was published by Dikenga Books. His first book, “Filmmaking Confidential,” debuted as an Amazon and Audible best-seller. His first coffee table art book “Phone Sex” is out in hardcover (and as an audio documentary). As a voice-over artist, Steve narrates audiobooks for Audible and interviews notable guests for his “Filmmaking Confidential” podcast. The latest episode features food expert, author and TV judge James Oseland. In 2020, Steve produced a radio play of Ibsen’s HEDDA GABLER, starring Theatre World Award winner Jennifer Grace as Hedda. Audio Drama Reviews critic Michael Bergonzi gave it four stars and writes, “Dikenga Audio’s first sonic melodrama is the quintessential audio play in both content and form.”