Satan and Adam

SATAN AND ADAM follows two musicians from the opposite ends of life who met on the streets of Harlem in 1986. Against the backdrop of racial discord in the city, Adam Gussow, a young white Jewish harmonica player, and Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee, an older black Mississippi bluesman, joined forces to blaze a new musical trail. Bi-racial blues. Po-mo blues. Whatever you want to call it, it changed their lives forever and contested longstanding notions of cultural appropriation. Shot over 30 years, Satan & Adam showcases a miraculous journey of friendship, heartbreak and the transformative power of music.

In 1986, when harmonica player Adam Gussow asked if he could jam with one-man band Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee it was the beginning of an unforgettable collaboration - dubbed Satan and Adam. Amidst the racial tension in New York City, this Jewish Ivy League graduate and black Mississippi blues man made an unlikely pair, but their musical stylings perfectly aligned. After a chance encounter with members of U2 and a celebrated debut record, the duo rose to international acclaim from their Harlem street corner. But as quickly as they were discovered, their meteoric rise was cut short when Mr. Satan mysteriously disappeared. The result is an odyssey 23 years in the making that captures a miraculous journey of friendship, heartbreak and the transformative power of music.

"You can easily imagine some Hollywood executive eyeing up the tale for a treacly feature film of interracial understanding. And certainly, this documentary highlights the strong friendship between the two men. Yet even with a short running time the filmmakers don’t shy away from more complex issues — racial tensions, gentrification, art and anger. Like the blues, there’s real pain here, mixed with real beauty." - New York Times  

V. Scott Balcerek is a feature film editor turned writer/director. His latest work, the award-winning feature documentary SATAN & ADAM, was produced by The Kennedy/Marshall Company and purchased by Netflix. Scott edited MORE THAN A GAME, a feature documentary about LeBron James, which was released by Lionsgate and nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He directed REPLAY, a branded doc series for Gatorade that received numerous industry accolades, including Gold Lions at Cannes and a Sports Emmy nomination, and was acquired for broadcast by Fox Sports Network where it ran for three seasons. Prior to directing, Scott was the Senior Visual Effects Editor for George Lucas' STAR WARS films, Episodes I and II, as well as Ang Lee's THE HULK and Wolfgang Petersen's THE PERFECT STORM. Scott attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles while editing a short documentary, STREET SONGS, which received a Student Academy Award.