premiering Friday on Netflix, won the jury award for short non-fiction film at the Sundance Film Festival, and it's about as charming as a little movie can be.
It's about a man in northern Michigan named John Shepherd who became obsessed with contacting extraterrestrial life. From his youth living with his parents and onward, he fills his home with all manner of computing and radar gear.
Mostly he plays DJ, beaming out music — Kraftwerk, Art Blakey, Harmonium — to the cosmos. The twist is that “John Was Trying to Contact Aliens” is about finding love here on Earth.
See it if for its tenderness and top-notch beards.— "The 24th": Kevin Willmott is best known for his screenwriting collaborations with Spike Lee ("Chi-Raq," “BlacKkKlansman,”.