For all of you who have been going through Harry Potter withdrawals since this past summer, Josh Koury’s “We Are Wizards” might help to bring back a bit of the magic you’ve been missing.

 

“We Are Wizards” is a 2008 documentary about extreme Harry Potter fandom in American culture. It focuses on a few individuals and groups who’ve conjured up an entire subculture of music, comedy and nonfiction inspired by Harry and J.K. Rowling’s fantasy world.

 

The film follows musicians Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys and 7-year-old Darius Wilkins’ band, the Hungarian Horntails; fan site starters and nonfiction writers like Melissa Anelli of “The Leaky Cauldron”; and comedian and writer Brad Neely, whose hilarious dubbed narration entitled “Wizard People, Dear Reader” shines a whole new light on the first Harry Potter film.

 

Incidentally, Brad Neely (who you might already be familiar with from YouTube gems like “George Washington“) lives in Austin. The movie is partly filmed in places around town and even includes a scene in Austin’s own I Luv Video.

 

The documentary also touches on fans’ fights with Warner Brothers over intellectual property. It presents an alternative view of Harry Potter by a Christian filmmaker, who claims reading about witchcraft and wizardry leads to a path of the occult and evil and other nonsensical wickedness we’ve all heard before.

 

On the contrary, “We Are Wizards” shows just how much of a positive impact Harry has made on many young lives. The film depicts how Harry has changed some people’s lives for the better, bringing them joy and sometimes a tidy profit.

 

“We Are Wizards” is enchanting, lighthearted and funny. Although barely over an hour long, the film is full of interesting people and their stories.

 

For those of you who’ve read the books and watched the movies, you will adore this documentary. For others who aren’t too big on the Potter series, you can at least appreciate the effect he has had on some obsessive fans. Whether you’re a fan or not, “We Are Wizards” is a great documentary that shows just how much Harry Potter has helped to define our generation.