Martin Sheen vouches for patriotism and hope in dark times with 'American Mosaic'

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Three guys walk into a bar.One is a composer whose heroes are Aaron Copland and John Williams; one is a former U.S.

history teacher who takes photos of American landscapes and faces; the other is a Hollywood lion and social activist known for playing an idealist (and ideal) American president.These three men — Peter Boyer, Joe Sohm and Martin Sheen — have created “American Mosaic,” an optimistic shot across the bow that pairs Sohm’s celebratory images of the country with declamations by great minds of history, as narrated by Sheen, all set to Boyer’s propulsive and tuneful orchestral music.The 40-minute work has been performed by major orchestras around the country as part of the celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, and will premiere Wednesday in film form — the images and narration over a recording of Boyer’s score by the Hollywood Cinematic Orchestra — at the Ojai Film Festival.The piece is an exuberantly hopeful and unabashedly patriotic look at America and its possibilities that seems downright defiant in such a deeply cynical and divided time in the nation’s history.

Yet all three men remain optimistic despite the odds, sure that Americans would rather feel hopeful than defeated, uplifted rather than downtrodden.To borrow another setup for a joke: How many patriotic optimists does it take to turn on a light bulb?“What’s your alternative?” Sheen says, laughing, sitting on the back porch of his Malibu home.“Come on, we came from a place, and we stood for something else — and so we know the truth, and we know what nourishes people.

And it’s not hate and division, it’s not sarcasm.You know, the country belongs to all of us.”The project was conceived by Sohm, who roamed America for 40 years in an RV with his wife and a camera.

His photos have been published e...