No one playing a word association game would think “hotbed for cinematic creativity” if someone said “Georgetown University.” Not that that’s a fair stereotype—even the School of Foreign Service graduated the amazing Carl Reiner (SFS ’43). But whether you’d expect it or not, two Georgetown graduates—including one SFSer—produced documentaries that debuted at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which finished up earlier this week.

And for his part, Nick Shumaker (COL ’01) was partially inspired by what he studied at Georgetown. He’s had a passion for ‘separatist religions’ since he studied Theology at Georgetown, he told the Voice, which played well into his production, American Mystic. The film, whose trailer you can view above, follows three young Americans as they explore alternative religions in rural parts of the country—Chuck, a Native American sundancer, Morpehus, a pagan priestess, and Kublai, a Spiritualist.

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