In the spring of 2005, Emilie Taylor, then a graduate student at the Tulane School of Architecture, received a travel grant to research and document self-taught and visionary builders around the south. After visiting and documenting a number of builders, most of whom professed some degree of divine inspiration, Emilie shared her findings with filmmaker Zachary Godshall. Immediately attracted by Taylor’s stories, drawings, and photographs, Godshall decided to visit the builders himself.

And so in November 2005, Godshall set out from south Louisiana with a camera, tripod, and microphone to interview and document the work of Floyd Banks Jr., a divinely inspired castle builder living in the east Tennessee hill country.

Three years later, Godshall completed a feature-length film that both examines and celebrates the work of Banks along with four other solitary builders who have constructed similar monuments. Beyond the builders and their work, the film functions as a personal essay that explores the nature of inspiration and one’s dedication to a creative project, no matter how absurd or mysterious the circumstances may seem. (Source).

Let me say it clearly: this movie is great. It’s hilarious, moving, and awe-inspiring. It examines the work of five individuals: Floyd Banks Jr., a castle builder in Greenback, Tennessee; Reverend H. D. Dennis, a charismatic preacher in Vicksburg, Mississippi; Kenny Hill, a mysterious sculptor in Chauvin, Louisiana; Leonard Knight, a painter and mountain builder in Niland, California; and Shelby Ravellette, a master stonemason in Omaha, Arkansas.

See the trailer for the film as well as several short clips featuring each individual. The official website for God’s Architects can be found here.