The Emperor Of Dreams

About the documentary:
Clark Ashton Smith was a poet, fantasist, sculptor, and painter. While mostly remembered today for his pioneering work in 1930s pulp magazines alongside H. P. Lovecraft, he is considered by many to be the last great Romantic poet and a unique visual artist with a large range of work in the outsider vein.

This lyrical feature-length documentary explores Smith’s work and life as a solitary artist living in Auburn, a small rural town in Northern California. It features interviews with leading scholars in the field such as S. T. Joshi, Scott Connors, and Ron Hilger, as well as legendary writer of speculative fiction, Harlan Ellison. Donald Sidney-Fryer, groundbreaking Smith scholar, is featured as a sort of tour guide to Smith’s Auburn.