American Kensho is a series about Buddhist practitioners in genre situations, often also involving queer relationships and the insights of queer theory. American Kensho: Manifest Destiny, the first film in this series, is a horror/thriller piece where Sarah, our Zen Buddhist protagonist, and Julia, her pagan lover, battle with mindfulness and magic an oppressive cult attempting to assault their very souls. The writer/director provides a disclaimer for the viewer that while xyr personal Zen Buddhist practice guides the production of this ongoing project, it is an attempt to sort out the relationship of that practice to the world, and does not comprise any sort of Buddhist teaching in itself.