> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.strangetourist.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘Spiritual tourist’ finds the magic in new film - URL: https://www.strangetourist.co.uk/margate-filmmaker-leigh-brooks-magic-in-the-mundane-interview/ - Published: 2026-10-03T07:00:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-03T14:36:11.000Z - Description: Filmmaker Leigh Brooks taps into the spirituality in documentary Magic in the Mundane, screening this month at Thanet’s Sporefaring Festival - Author: Zita Whalley - Tags: Interviews, Things to do in Margate, Thanet, Margate, Magic, Festivals, Film I’m speaking to filmmaker Leigh Brooks, trying to pin down if magic and spiritualism are different takes on the same idea, and if Leigh’s documentary Magic in the Mundane is about one or the other or both. “I think within everything there is an element of magic,” Leigh says. “You look at Christianity. We talk about very magical things in that realm and I don’t think that is separate from spirituality. “Spirituality is such a broad word,” he continues. “What does it mean? What does it mean to be spiritual?” The documentary, much like Leigh’s response, is an open-ended study of people connecting or reconnecting to the magic in their existence, and one that opens up questions rather than offer answers. The film looks at various spiritual practices, psychedelics and alternative ways of living as Leigh interviews ritual designers, mystics, death doulas, mushroom experts, educators and philosophers about their belief systems. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Alexandra-Lea-Foraging.jpg) Alexandra Lea foraging. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* Producer Adam Carr, describes Magic in the Mundane as “a film examining people examining things,” Leigh tells me, which is probably the neatest way to sum up such an existential film that dives straight into a myriad of worlds led by ritual and the want for reconnection, meaning and enlightenment. Leigh spent around 18 months making the film, planning the documentary as it unfolded. Initially, he wanted to focus on Isla Macleod, a woman of many bows including ceremonialist and ritual designer. The plan was to spend a couple of days every month together. “I wanted to learn more about the seasons and the cycles of nature,” Leigh explains. “I was curious about where the magic in these lands was. “I looked around one day and my life felt a bit grey. I wondered where the magic was. Does it still exist and what happened to it?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Isla-on-Dartmoor.jpg) Isla Macleod camping on Dartmoor. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* During his time with Isla, Leigh participated in various different rituals while out in nature and as the seasons changed, an experience that was “really enriching and rewarding”. As he got deeper into the rituals and Isla’s practice, more questions emerged for Leigh and he decided to get more people involved in the film. “I found my own pathway was unfolding as we went and more and more people started coming out and joining the project. It was a very organic process as the network expanded naturally for the film,” he says. Leigh found his subjects through the psilocybin network and Instagram - “My algorithm has definitely changed somewhat in the last year and a half”, he says - opening the film up to include Elad the Mountain Man, Alexander Canwell The Wellness Punk, forager and biologist Alexandra Lea, and ethnomycology and psychedelic educator Darren le Baron among others. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Elad-playing-instrument.jpg) Elad the Mountain Man. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* With the likes of Margate Mushrooms and Sporefaring Mushroom Festival founder Darryn de la Soul, author and founder of The Samhain Society Tree Carr, and shamanic healer Sorrel Robbins, Margate is well represented in the film. Leigh believes it’s the town’s “liminal” quality that attracts a certain ilk of person. “It’s by the sea, it was an island, and there’s a lot of spirit here,” he continues. “It’s an esoteric island, and such a cool place to live.” ## Sign up for Strange Tourist | Thanet culture guide Your go-to guide for culture, events and coastal life in Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and beyond Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. While Leigh may be reluctant to define spirituality, he says he has been spiritual from an early age. “I had a few things happen to me in the past; a few encounters with substances that I really shouldn’t have and that left me fearful of my own life. “I had a few moments where I thought I was probably going to die from various things and that was enough to open that inquiry up for me.” For Leigh, his spirituality is “about connection with something within yourself and connecting with something within the wider world; within nature; within your place in the universe”. It’s no surprise then, that reconnecting to nature - either as ash when we die, through taking magic mushrooms, spending time in nature - is a recurring theme in the film, as people find their pathways into their magical existences. “I grew up in London,” Leigh says. “So my experience with nature was going to Brighton, or to local parks or the river Thames. I knew nothing about nature or about the cycles of life. Spending time with Isla was where I learned so much about the changing of the seasons and what that means rhythmically for our own lives.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Elad-with-Rainbow.jpg) Elad the Mountain Man looks out at a rainbow. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* Leigh filmed most of the footage himself; beautiful, sweeping shots across vast expenses and majestic landscapes which capture the lure and magic of the natural world. Leigh says the experience was “absolutely the best thing I’ve done”. “Not having a plan of where it’s going to go, just trusting the process and listening to my own compass was really special.” While the idea of returning to the natural world threads itself throughout the film, along with the beauty and magic of spiritual rites and rituals, Leigh also touches on the darker side of spiritual enquiry. “\[Magic\] is such a seductive thing. “You’ve got to be so careful with who you talk to and what line you go down, because everything in the field is pretty life-changing. Humans are very susceptible to their own imaginations as well.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Cat-Neil-Grafitti-Margate.jpg) Cat Neil graffiti, Margate. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* He goes on to say that as much as there is beauty and light in the world, there is also dark in the light, and this darkness can be found in every person. There are the extremes of this darkness too, Leigh explains. “There are a lot of psychedelic circles that are cropping up and who are the people taking you through those journeys? That’s a bit of a problem. “Oviously when people go into such things, they’re in a vulnerable state already and they’re looking for answers and fixes - sometimes quick fixes, and that can leave people exposed to other things. “I thought it was really important to go down that road and find out a bit more about what can go wrong and what has gone wrong for people as well.” This darker side of magic is something Leigh goes into further in the sequel to Magic in the Mundane, which he is currently shooting. For his new project, Leigh is looking at chaos magic, people who are on “the left hand path” as well as people who have had a near death experience and have come away from it with new creativity, gifts and talents. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/06/39/0639efc0-b873-4e30-ac06-2893b029d0e0/content/images/2026/10/Nuestro-Namoli-with-tapestry.jpg) Nuestro Ñámoli working on a tapestry. **Photo: Leigh Brooks* “It’s such an amazing, beautiful world that we live in, and it’s very easy to get sucked into the chaos and the darkness of it. But equally, there’s so much beauty and light and wonderment. “I’m still the spiritual tourist,” he continues. “I don’t think it’s wise for me to go down one road with it. I’m just really curious about how people live and what their world view is and how they explore their creativity and what it is to be human in all aspects. “As a filmmaker, I want to explore that and what that is.” *Magic in the Mundane screens as part of Sporefaring Mushroom Festival, Friday, October 16 at 6.30pm, with a Q&A with Leigh, at ARK Cliftonville.* [*Tickets £7.80*](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sporefaring/2341532?date=2026-10-16&ref=strangetourist.co.uk)*. Sporefaring Mushroom Festival runs October 16-18\.* [*See the full programme*](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sporefaring?ref=strangetourist.co.uk)*.* Want more? [Subscribe to our newsletter](https://www.strangetourist.co.uk/#/portal) for a hit of arts, culture and fun things to do around Thanet and beyond in your inbox every Saturday morning.