Alec Hawkins remembers being a 7-year-old in Columbus and loving the feel of his family’s large and chunky camcorder he used to film home videos.
He filmed everything growing up, including concerts he attended at The Princess Theater and productions of the annual Tennessee Williams Tribute play.
“I’ve always been documenting not just my own creative adventures but the other creative folks around me,” Hawkins told the Exchange Club of Columbus on Thursday at Lion Hills Center. “And it’s kind of taken me this long to kind of realize exactly what I’ve been doing this whole time.”
Hawkins, through his production studio Werecat Pictures, has been working for the last three years on his first feature-length documentary, “Angels & Heretics,” which focuses on Mississippi author P.D. Newman’s research into historical alchemy practices in Egypt and its ties to modern medical application of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a naturally occurring psychedelic drug used to treat mental health conditions like depression and addiction.
The project is expected to wrap filming in April and be released during summer 2027, including a showing at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival in Starkville.
The filming process took Hawkins across the world to countries like Egypt and the Czech Republic to speak with researchers and explore underground alchemical labs.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to fly with him all over the world and document his journey to basically (prove) his hypothesis that this is actually a thing and and in a sense that the work is still continuing today,” Hawkins said to The Dispatch.
Hawkins admits that it took some time for him to grow and become ready to produce and film a full feature-length documentary.
After graduating in 2020 from Mississippi University for Women with a master’s in fine arts for creative writing, Hawkins began the early iteration of his production studio in 2022 through the form of a YouTube channel.
Since creating that channel Hawkins said he’s created about 40 music videos, video essays and short documentaries. Hawkins found an appreciation over the years in creating shorter form content about Columbus’ art scene through videoing local bands or historical events like the final run of The Commercial Dispatch’s printing press in December.
Hawkins said now that filmmaking and videography is more accessible with phones and other devices that it’s important for locals to feel empowered to capture the culture of Columbus so it doesn’t go underappreciated.
“We literally create the scene by documenting it,” Hawkins said. “… (When there is) a poetry open mic at a local coffee shop, and you post it online. A few people show up, share photos, tag their friends in it and suddenly that one night event becomes part of our literary scene. …That footage doesn’t just preserve the moment. It inspires the next band, it attracts new fans and it makes the music scene here in Columbus alive and growing.”
In the future, Hawkins said, he’d love to see more feature length documentaries done to highlight aspects of Columbus like the storied history of blues musicians on Catfish Alley or modern figures like Chase McGill, a Country Music Award winning songwriter from Columbus.
“As much as I love the hill country blues, and I want us to remember them … and listen to those old tracks all the time. It is (just as) important to recognize what we have here right now,” Hawkins said. “… It’s like, let’s smell the roses while they’re right here in the room.”
While Hawkins currently has no plans to pursue one of these projects he said he does plan to incorporate the city where he can in his next projects whether through using the music of local musicians in his films or interviewing local people.
Similarly, supporting local open mics, poetry slams or concerts will help the community grow, he said.
“We’re just in a super crazy, transitional, destabilized time right now, so we’re kind of figuring out, like the new rules of the game,” Hawkins said. “ I don’t necessarily think that it’s negligence on our community’s part. I just think that technology has changed. The way people come out and interact with the arts has changed. I would say, right now in Columbus, Mississippi, … I think more people need to see open mics. More people need to see the creative writing.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
