76 Minutes – Documentary
Language: English
Festival release date: April 30, 2009 (Hot Docs)
Release date:
Canadian Distributor: Mongrel Media

Act of God is a feature documentary about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. The event represents the paradox of being singled out by randomness, and so precipitates questions about chance, fate and the meaning in life. The film explores seven stories from around the world that raise and respond to these questions, while keeping the sky and what comes out of it as a central visual metaphor and thread. Paul Auster, who was struck as a teenager, philosophically anchors the film, along with Fred Frith, who is perhaps the world’s best known guitar improviser, who both imaginatively underpins Act of God and personally demonstrates the ubiquity of electricity in our bodies and the universe.

Act of God was chosen to open the 2009 HotDocs Film Festival in Toronto, the first time in the festival’s history that the honour went to a Canadian film.