DIORAMA FILMS Henry Darger's images of children are central to "In the Realms of the Unreal."

An eccentric artist’s
story unfolds

"In the Realms of the Unreal," United States, Golden Maile Award-nominated documentary. Shows at 1 p.m. Saturday and 4:15 p.m. Monday at Dole Cannery cineplex.

Award-winning short-subject filmmaker Jessica Yu makes her feature-length debut with "In the Realms of the Unreal," a documentary about Henry Darger, a janitor, novelist and visionary known as an "outsider artist" who penned a 15,000-page novel about a group of seven angelic sisters.

Coming up Tomorrow: "The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam" tells the story of China's greatest magician. Friday: Review of the Golden Maile nominee "Mr. Patterns" from Australia. More reviews and feature stories in Weekend. Sunday: Surf Cinema features five big-wave films. Details: The film festival runs tomorrow through Oct. 31 at various theaters. Tickets are $8. Order online at hiff.org or call 528-4433.

"Realms" takes a cue from the unusual paintings of this eccentric man to create a documentary that is less critical biography than cinematic collage. Rather than interview art scholars and psychologists, Yu examines Darger's work from the viewpoint of those who knew him, including neighbors. She also incorporates animation segments using Darger's original images and archival documents.

The reclusive Darger worked in obscurity for nearly six decades, filling his Chicago apartment with hundreds of paintings -- some more than 10 feet long -- and collages of images from coloring books, newspapers and magazines. There were also thousands of typed or handwritten manuscript pages.

Born in 1892, Darger lived in Chicago most of his life. When he died in 1973, his landlord found his life's work: "The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion," most often referred to as "The Realms."

The massive fantasy novel contains some 300 illustrations.

Since his death at age 81, selections from Darger's work have been exhibited in museums and have inspired poetry, music, ballets and operas. Several critics and curators praise the vivid colors and sophisticated compositions of his beautiful but often disturbingly violent paintings.

But it is his frequent depictions of small children -- especially young naked girls with miniature penises as they are variously embraced, tortured, befriended or disemboweled by adults -- that have caused some to suspect Darger was a pedophile.

Yu avoids mention of such theories but does refer to Darger's inexplicable obsession with retrieving a lost newspaper photograph of a murdered girl.

The film's testimonies from neighbors and Darger's diary show him as a harmless eccentric who suffered as a child in Catholic orphanages and state institutions.

Segments of his massive novel are narrated by Dakota Fanning and re-enacted in radio-theater style. These show Darger's outrage at the suffering of innocent children.