Darius James

A dark political satire about how Sammy Davis, Jr. caused Watergate. Equal parts "Dr. Strangelove," "Zelig," and "Network," "Sammy-Gate" takes you on a psychedelic trip into the 1970s polyester heart of darkness. On a USO tour of Vietnam, Sammy Davis Jr. stumbles upon a CIA-sponsored plot to smuggle heroin into the United States. Through comic ineptitude mixed with noble intentions, Davis triggers a chain of bizarre missteps by the FBI, the Mafia, and the Nixon administration that result in the Watergate scandal.

The documentary explores how African-based spirituality has informed Americas popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests in turntable wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, performances and rituals. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, the documentary draws a picture of a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality