What to Watch at the 2022 Festival: Films for Fans of the Spooky and Supernatural
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
From the Festival that brought you some of the most iconic and deeply disturbing horror flicks of the last several decades — including The Blair Witch Project,Hereditary, Halloween, and Saw — the 2022 Sundance Film Festival boasts yet another impressive lineup of deeply imaginative films that dwell in the terrifying and supernatural.
Whether you’re a fan of gripping psychological thrillers or supernatural folk horror, this year’s selections are sure to keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat. But if you abhor gore, fear not, as there are plenty of palatable films for the squeamish; elements of magical realism and the paranormal abound.
The following list breaks the lineup down into supernatural dramas, psychological thrillers, and films that include a bit of both. Themes of social isolation, motherhood, family dynamics, romance, and racism dominate.
Supernatural Dramas
A still from Nanny by Nikyatu Jusu, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Nanny (U.S. Dramatic) — Aisha is an undocumented Senegalese immigrant in pursuit of the American dream — her specific version of which involves bringing her young son, whom she was forced to leave behind in Senegal, to join her in New York City. She finds work as a nanny for a wealthy Manhattan family, but must carefully navigate the tense atmosphere between the workaholic mother and the disillusioned father. Meanwhile, she is haunted by a supernatural entity derived from West African folklore, a presence that invades both her dreams and reality.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future (World Dramatic) — Magical realism propels the melodrama in the Spanish language film The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future; the mysterious resurrection of her long-dead mother forces Cecilia to return home to her family’s dairy farm in southern Chile. Once there, she rendezvous with magical farm animals, eschews a connection with her mother, struggles to find common ground with her estranged brother and father, and grapples with the budding transgender identity of her eldest child.
Supernatural Horror
Regina Hall appears in Master by Mariama Diallo, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Master (U.S. Dramatic) — At an elite New England university, the dean of students (Regina Hall), a first-year student (Zoe Renee), and a literature professor (Amber Gray) navigate politics and privilege as they encounter increasingly terrifying manifestations of their school’s haunted and racist past. An eye-opening study of power and privilege, Master marks writer-director Mariama Diallo’s first feature and blends horror, drama, psychological thriller, and social critique. Sundance programmer John Nein says, “What begins as a search for belonging becomes a chilling struggle for survival, and Diallo shrewdly reframes a basic horror trope — escaping an evil force — asking what escape is possible for communities of color confronting a racial terror that is everywhere.”
You Won’t Be Alone (World Dramatic) — Set in 19th-century Macedonia, folk horror film You Won’t Be Alone is a dark fable propelled by the supernatural. After a young girl is transformed into a witch by an ancient, shape-shifting spirit, she is left to roam the woods in a feral state. When she inadvertently kills a villager, she becomes a shape-shifter herself, assuming the body of her victim. The young witch continues to inhabit different people (played by multiple actors), living among the villagers for years, observing and mimicking their behavior until the ancient spirit who cursed her returns.
Resurrection (Premieres) — Taking an unsettling look at the consequences of emotional manipulation and codependent relationships, Resurrection mixes magical realism and horror to unnerving effect. After a phantom from her past returns to haunt her, Margaret finds herself being pushed to extreme limits that test her “kindness” and ability to be a good mother — a key facet of her personal identity, and one that she has carefully cultivated while juggling single parenthood and building a successful career. Rebecca Hall’s magnetic lead performance makes this surreal psychological thriller unforgettable.
Hatching (Midnight) — Tween gymnast Tinja spends most of her time fighting with her obnoxious little brother and trying to please her image-obsessed mother, who showcases their family’s existence on her popular blog “Lovely Everyday Life” as a bright and cheery vision of suburban perfection. After Tinja discovers a dying bird in the woods, she brings its strange egg home and nurtures it until it hatches. According to Sundance programmer Heidi Zwicker, “The creature that emerges, christened Alli, becomes Tinja’s closest friend, surrogate child, and living nightmare in this tremendously twisted coming-of-age body horror film.”
Horror and Psychological Thrillers
Maika Monroe appears in Watcher by Chloe Okuno, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Watcher (U.S. Dramatic) — Newly married, Julia moves with her husband to Romania where he has just landed a new job. While he’s busy working all day, she’s left alone to wander the wintery streets of Bucharest and lounge in their luxurious apartment. Cooped up, she notices someone watching her in the adjacent building, and as the stranger’s observations continue unabated, Julia launches an obsessive quest to prove her suspicions to her skeptical husband. Meanwhile, a serial killer known as The Spider stalks Bucharest, targeting young women. Watcher hypnotically weaves a web of suspense and misgivings as Julia, isolated in a foreign landscape, must defend her intuition.
Speak No Evil (Midnight) — While on vacation in Tuscany, a polite Danish family befriends a free-spirited Dutch couple and their mute son; a few months later, the Dutch invite the Danes to visit them at their home in the Netherlands. They happily oblige, but what starts out as an idyllic reunion quickly takes a turn for the worse. The Danes’ exceptional houseguest manners are repeatedly tested by their erratic and eccentric hosts, who are harboring secret and sinister intentions. Speak No Evil masterfully builds tension and suspense, with a visual crescendo that is sure to leave a lasting impression.
PIGGY (Midnight) — Sara, a small town butcher’s daughter, is routinely ridiculed for her appearance by a clique of mean girls in her rural Spanish village. One summer day at the community pool, the girls take the bullying too far, nearly drowning Sara. A vigilante stranger witnesses the event and responds by kidnapping Sara’s tormentors. As the town searches for the bullies, Sara, intrigued by the stranger’s ambiguous intentions, keeps quiet. Horrific brutalities ensue and the violence only worsens the longer Sara holds her tongue. Bloody and laced with grim satire, PIGGY is a psychologically thrilling, nail-biting tale of justice, redemption, and the vulnerability of a tormented teenager desperate to fit in.
Fresh (Midnight) — Frustrated by dating apps, Noa takes a chance on the awkward-but-charming cosmetic surgeon that she bumped into in the produce section of the grocery store. Their romance quickly takes off, and she accepts his invitation for an impromptu weekend getaway, but quickly discovers that her roguish new lover is hiding some unusual appetites. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan, Fresh tells a twisted tale of the horrifying realities of modern dating.
Circus Kane is going to be frightening moviegoers with help from Uncork’d Entertainment, which has secured worldwide distribution rights to the circus-themed horror film.
The film from DeInstitutionalized stars Jonathan Lipnicki, and sees sees a reclusive circus master invite a group of social media stars to his house of haunts. Anyone who can make it out before being scared into submission will earn $250,000 — but the social media stars soon learn they are not only competing for money, but also fighting their lives.
The film is being directed by Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray from a script by James Cullen Bressack and Zack Ward, based on a story by Sean Sellars.
“I’ve worked with James on two films (Restoration and Bethany), and have followed Chris and his body of work for some time so the opportunity to work with both of them couldn’t be passed up” said Uncork’d President Keith Leopard.
DeInstitutionalized’s Gerald Webb and Christopher Ray are producing the project along with Bressack.
“We are very excited to work with Keith and the team at Uncork’d Entertainment. Their experience and relationships across all platforms make them the perfect partner to distribute Circus Kane.” Producers Webb, Ray and Bressack said in a joint statement.
At the top of the post, check out the first production still from Circus Kane, which features actor Bill Voorhees as one of circus master Kane’s horde of demented henchmen. The production team promises that’s just a small taste of the horrors to come from the film.
This debut film follows 15-year-old Bia and her friends as they grow up in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. As the girls try to navigate the usual pitfalls of puberty, a wave of murders sweeps the city and bodies begin to appear in the group’s usual stomping grounds. What starts as morbid curiosity slowly starts to infect their young lives, and after an encounter with death, Bia will do anything to stay alive. This audacious vision announces filmmaker Anita Rocha da Silveira as a rising talent whose mastery of dark subject matter is strikingly bold and altogether entertaining. The production, packed with killer performances from its young cast and brilliant music, is a giallo-tinged take on puberty and the experience of living in a girl’s body. As it reaches its tense conclusion, the alchemy of styles creates something fiercely original.
AFI spoke to the director about the film, which screens as part of AFI FEST 2016’s New Auteurs section.
AFI: Your film plays cleverly with horror film references. What inspired you?
Anita Rocha da Silveira: I’m particularly fond of David Lynch. The TWIN PEAKS pilot and BLUE VELVET were very important references. He inspired me to create an alternative universe where I could exaggerate the tones. Most importantly, however, I like the way he portrays flaming desire within a society that’s doomed to fail. I think mostly in characters such as Donna Hayward [on TWIN PEAKS], who feel everything so intensely that they seem just about to faint.
I’m also a fan of Dario Argento and got some inspiration from films like THE STENDHAL SYNDROME. Other essential references are Brian De Palma’s CARRIE, Jacques Tourneur’s CAT PEOPLE and Claire Denis’s TROUBLE EVERY DAY. Some might not consider TROUBLE EVERY DAY a genre piece but, for me, it’s one of the greatest films of the 21st century and an amazing modern vampire tale.
AFI: Your lead actor Valentina Herszage is an incredible discovery and a real-life high-schooler. Talk about your collaboration.
ARDS: It was very important to be able to work with teens of the same age as the characters. I didn’t want a 20-year-old playing a 15-year-old girl. I wanted to find teens who were going through similar dilemmas, [and had] faces that carried the marks of a stage in our lives when our bodies are constantly changing.
We knew we needed to find new talents, so we announced the casting call in drama classes and on Facebook. We saw around 300 girls in our first audition, then I picked 50 for a more specific activity. I finally came down to 13 for one last audition, from which I chose the leading role and the supporting characters.
Valentina was 15 years old during the shoot, and she fascinated me because of her love for horror movies — her favorite is THE SHINING. Other actresses were more prepared but she was fearless and that kind of energy was fundamental to the character. Together, we talked about sexuality, desires, experiences with death, violent impulses. She was always completely committed.
AFI: Did the themes of religion come from your own personal upbringing, or did they erupt from the setting of the film?
ARDS: In Brazil, we’ve been seeing evangelical churches grow at an exponential rate. It’s the fastest growing religion in the country. Every election year we see the evangelical bench in congress increase, as well as the rise of conservative thought, along with the daily attack on women’s and LGBT rights.
We have several evangelical churches here, following different trends. For KILL ME PLEASE, I took my inspiration from a real church, with a big temple in the area where I shot, which targets a younger public. This church has teenage pastors, uses surf boards as altars and also pop music to attract followers. For me it was important to show the church because it’s part of the lives of many Brazilian youths, and also a counterpoint to [lead character] Bia’s desires and wishes. It represents a conservative discourse I’m fed up with, mostly about how a woman is supposed to behave.
Free tickets for KILL ME PLEASE will be available on AFI.com beginning November 1.
The Orchard is proud to announce the US release of DEMON, Polish director Marcin Wrona’s eerie, richly atmospheric and clever take on the Jewish legend of the dybbuk. Acclaimed at several festivals including New Directors/New Films, the Toronto Film Festival, and Austin Fantastic Fest where it won the Award for Best Horror Feature, DEMON is scheduled to open in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, September 9th followed by a national release.
Newly arrived from England to marry his fiancée Zaneta (Agnieszk Zulewska, Chemo), Peter (Israeli actor Itay Tiran, Lebanon) has been given a gift of her family’s ramshackle country house in rural Poland. It’s a total fixer-upper, and while inspecting the premises on the eve of the wedding, he falls into a pile of human remains. The ceremony proceeds, but strange things begin to happen…During the wild reception, Peter begins to come undone, and a dybbuk, the iconic ancient figure from Jewish folklore, takes a toehold in this present-day celebration-for a very particular reason, as it turns out. Based on noted Polish writer Piotr Rowicki’s play Adherence, DEMON is the final work by Marcin Wrona, who died just as DEMON was set to premiere in Poland, is part absurdist comedy, part love story-that scares, amuses, and charms in equal measure.
Marcin Wrona was born in Tarnow, Poland in 1973 and studied film at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He directed several features for television, as well as the theatrical features My Flesh, My Blood and The Christening, which were selected for the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals.
Critics Reactions
“Demon” enthralls as an atmospheric ghost story with a cheeky undercurrent of absurdist humor.” — Joe Leydon, Variety
“..a unique take on the Jewish legend of the Dybbuk that feels both deeply rooted in cultural nightmares and refreshingly new…“Demon” is stylish and clever from its concept..but it’s the execution that really matters. There’s a great energy to the piece, from the framing of the visual compositions, to the eerie atmosphere created by the lights hanging from the ceiling of what looks like a barn. There’s fantastic costume design as well as a lead performance that engages on every level.” — Brian Tallerico, Rogerebert.com
“A darkly humorous reworking of “The Dybbuk,” with a deftly realized switch that turns that familiar tale of love from beyond the grave into a parable of Polish anti-Semitism in the post-war era…. a black comedy in the vein of “The Exterminating Angel.” — George Robinson, The Jewish Week
A CONVERSATION WITH DEMON PRODUCER OLGA SZYMANSKA How does DEMON fit into Marcin’s body of work? Are there similar themes or motifs that run through his three features? Marcin’s idea was to make a trilogy, and DEMON is the final installment of this trilogy, with MY FLESH, MY BLOOD (2009) and THE CHRISTENING (2010) being the first and second. All of his movies contain similar themes and motifs, including growing up, the nature of evil and the fate or destiny each protagonist must cope with in each story. None of Marcin’s films contained a happy ending. MY FLESH, MY BLOOD’s protagonist is a boxer who discovers he will die soon following a savage blow to his head. He wants to leave something in the world, which is a child. THE CHRISTENING is the story of a gangster who’s been sentenced to death by the Mafia. He’s coping with his feelings for his family during his seven remaining days alive, during which time he asks his best friend to take care of his family when he’s gone. The theme of family and destiny — the idea that you can’t cheat death — rings strongest in these two works. DEMON’s protagonist, Piotr, is fated to reveal the truth about the film’s mysterious setting after becoming possessed by a ghostly figure, and it also features a fatal ending. All three works feature rituals of some sort, from christenings to weddings. What are the roots of DEMON and what drew Marcin towards this specific story? It’s based on a play called The Clinging, but the only thing that remains from that story is the names of the characters and the phenomenon of the dybbuk (from Jewish folklore). It’s a very theatrical piece so it took some time to transform the story elements to movie language in the screenplay. Marcin and the co-writer Pawel Maslona rewrote almost everything and made the story their own.
What was Marcin’s specific interest in the traditional ghost story of the dybbuk?
It’s a story that has almost been forgotten in Poland. The Dybbuk was a play written by Shimon Ansky in 1914 and then made into a film by Michal Waszynski in 1937 right before he tried to launch a career in Hollywood. It was the first Yiddish-Hasidic movie made in Poland and it’s considered the Hasidic Romeo & Juliet. The protagonist in the play — who is possessed by the dybbuk (a malicious colonizing spirit) — wants to reveal an uncomfortable truth about the past, and Marcin found that concept exciting. We had seen the play together and both of us thought it would make a good movie. At that point, we had decided to launch a production company together. Our first thought was that it would be easy to translate into film because it was set in a single location. But we wound up doing a lot of research into the history of the story, not to mention Jewish-Polish history in general. If you read the studies on the dybbuk, those who became possessed by the spirit find themselves unable to speak. It originated in a very orthodox society of Jews, so it was the idea of this voice that could never have been heard which was longing to be heard. We thought it would be interesting to take the character of Piotr in our story and tell something specific through the demon that possessed him.
This is a unique co-production with Israel — how did this affect the story in any way?
Marcin’s previous movie, THE CHRISTENING, was screened at the Haifa Film Festival, where we met our future co-producer Marek Rosenbaum. We had seen (lead actor) Itay Tiran in a few movies and thought he could play characters from anywhere, because he has a universal look about him — like he could hail from Israel or Poland or elsewhere. He’s a great actor with a big theatrical background, but he’s been in movies like LEBANON, AFTERTHOUGHT and THE DEBT as well.
He’s required to give a very physical performance in this movie. Can you describe how Marcin worked with Itay Tiran to obtain such a raw, affective performance?
Marcin didn’t want to use any special effects in the movie — he wanted to rely solely on actors. All the rehearsals for the wedding dance scene, where the dybbuk takes possession of Piotr, took a long time, even before the actual shooting took place. Two choreographers rehearsed it with the actors, then another choreographer came in, who worked for the Jewish Theater in Warsaw as well as a pantomime group. The third choreographer worked with Itay directly, instructing him how to breathe and how to use the muscles and tension in his body to make the possession look more effective. Physical demands aside, Itay was already very well prepared for DEMON. For our first meeting in Warsaw a few years ago, he arrived with photographs from a version of The Dybbuk play, which had been produced in Tel Aviv in the ’50s. So he was already fascinated with the dance at the heart of that performance.
The movie is constructed around a Polish wedding. Can you explain why weddings are so prominent in his work?
In his first feature, MY FLESH, MY BLOOD, there is a wedding in the final scene, so he was no stranger to having weddings in his movies. He was very interested in rituals in general — which are important to Polish people in general because we are a predominantly Catholic country and so much of daily life revolves around ritual here. Marcin was not Catholic, but the idea with the wedding in DEMON is to show a glimpse of Polish society, showing different people in different roles, and how those roles change over the course over the wedding.
DEMON features a unique island-like setting. Where exactly did you film?
Marcin knew exactly how he wanted the house and the location to look. Our production designer, Anna Wunderlich, would go out on scouting missions and return with pictures, but nothing was right. We were so disappointed with what we saw that we decided to build our own sets. Two or three weeks before a final decision was supposed to be made on locations, she came back from the Malopolska region near Krakow with this terrific location near a town called Bochnia featuring an abandoned house from the early 20th century. It sat on a river with an old shed next to it, and no neighboring structures in its vicinity. The only structure the art department fabricated was the shed used in the wedding sequence — the existing house was how they found it, and how it appeared in the movie. All the mist and fog you see in the movie is also natural because our set was so close to the river.
Digging is a recurring motif in the story. The story plays out near a construction site, and human remains are discovered early in the story. What is the significance of so much digging in DEMON?
It’s a reflection of the past — the notion of unearthing the past or digging in the dirt and finding something unknown or scary, but the digging is more metaphoric than anything else.
What do you think were some of Marcin’s most potent gifts as a filmmaker?
He was very good with actors. He discovered some of the biggest Polish actors of his generation and many of them appear in DEMON, including Tomasz Schuchardt The actor who plays the brother in law won Best Actor at the Polish Film Festival for his work in Marcin’s previous film, THE CHRISTENING. And Agnieska Zulewska, our lead actress, appears in her first major starring role in this film. He rehearsed with actors a lot before going on set and he always gave them freedom — he trusted them immensely, so there was always a strong element of collaboration on his sets. On the visual side, he had a long relationship with his cinematographer, Pawel Flis, who shot all three of his features. Each of them is different from one another visually.
Why do you think Marcin and Pawel worked together so well as Director and Cinematographer?
They were very good friends in school, for one thing. They made Marcin’s first short together, “Magnet Man,” which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002. They shared a cinematic language and worked together very well together, which precluded them from having to talk much about what they wanted to do. They just did it and it worked.
What would you say is the overall visual style of DEMON?
Marcin and Pawel wanted it to look like old photographs from the early 20th century, and the costumes in the movie also look like they came from eras past. Although the movie is set in the 21st century, you get the sense from watching DEMON that it could be set during any time. They wanted it to look universal, as though it existed both in and out of time.
What were some of your own duties on this production — and what were some of the biggest challenges for you as a producer on DEMON?
I was involved with the project from the beginning — Marcin and I had seen The Dybbuk play together and we wanted to turn it into a movie. I read each version of the script he wrote, and helped organize the budget. I also helped with pre-production. During the shoot itself, the production manager took over and I came back to the game when shooting wrapped. Marcin and I were a couple, so I didn’t want to interfere during the 22-day shoot, which was a challenge in itself because we were mainly shooting at night during early October, amid heavy rains and low temperatures.
Why do you think ghost stories are so powerful cinematically? And what did this particular ghost story have for you that made it stand out from a crowded pack?
I think people like to be scared, but DEMON cuts much deeper than a conventional scary movie — the ghost story in this case is used as a way to soften heavy subject matter for the viewer. It’s a movie about erasing the past, forgetting about who we are and where we come from, who we lived with, and how we are all essentially strangers to one another. Piotr is an outsider or “other” — and in this case the movie tracks how much we are separated by our differences, or remain intolerant in the face of otherness. Marcin wanted to play with different genres in this movie, incorporating elements of horror, comedy, thriller, melodrama, while at the same time expressing something thematically important about the past in general.
An interesting part of this story is the collision of science, religion, family and industry (in the form of the patriarch) — it contributes to the tension of the story in an interesting way…
Marcin and the screenwriter wanted to bring out this element in the story — it’s something they brought to the existing Dybbuk legend. They wanted to show a wide section of society, including different people from all walks of life. None of the characters stay the same over the course of DEMON — the doctor comes to believe in ghosts, the priest becomes more atheistic, etc. They change roles, their viewpoints shift.
What for you was the most compelling aspect of making DEMON?
The idea of making this movie so different from Marcin’s other works was very exciting to me — to blend so many genres in one movie made the form intriguing and challenging. We also haven’t seen The Dybbuk story on screen in many years in Poland, so that was another compelling factor. The story itself is an important reminder that the Jewish and Polish cultures co-existed for hundreds of years together — but in this era we remember very little about the two cultures co-mingling. Polish Romanticism was one of the most important periods in our national literature, and a lot of writers during that period were interested in Jewish mysticism. The fusion of Romanticism and mysticism appealed to me in particular.
What do you think DEMON is trying to say, thematically?
It’s very much a story about the past, but it’s also about how we are living today — how it’s difficult for an outsider to come in and infiltrate a very small section of society, Polish or otherwise. People are not very open in Poland in terms of not wanting immigrants or “the other” living in their neighborhoods, so the story very much reflects contemporary values and mores.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Visual Style
Pawel Flis / Director of Photography ―The visual idea for this film was that we shoot it like old photographs, we wanted the shots to look like stills and tell the story using wide lenses and make the shots look wide. We didn’t want the camera to move a lot. I like to keep a very small distance between the actor and the camera, but at the same time the camera is an observer, it doesn’t interfere. We used one Alexa camera only, it’s my first film on this digital camera and I was so amazed at how it works with the picture, I loved it! You can take out so much from it in post –production too and as Marcin said, the scenes look like they were shot for a Western.‖
The Location
Zuza Hencz / Post Production Mgr. ―I wanted the time and place of the film to be universal. Twentieth century, somewhere in Poland, without being precise‖ said Marcin Wrona.―The film was meant to draw us back to classic cinema. I wanted to make it look traditional in composition and not to have any special effects or super modern technologies used. A lot of photographic style, as if someone with great taste had been taking photos (static takes) from the wedding. Finding the perfect location, where 90% of the shooting was supposed to take place was extremely hard. Together with Anna Wunderlich – our production designer- we drove through three different regions of Poland for three months, based on our own knowledge and also photo albums with old monuments. Unfortunately most of the buildings we found were either in a sorry state or renovated in a very kitschy way. What was equally hard was finding the space of the house that was needed for us to fit a whole wedding. After about two and a half months we stopped looking for a house and we found a great place where we could build it instead. And then totally out of the blue we found the perfect place – a house from 1890 with a huge barn from back then. Renovating the entire thing cost us a lot of money and work but gave the film a unique character and made the entire team feel special working for months in the mud and rain.
The Look of the Film
In March of 2015 the filmmakers consulted with Justine Wright, renowned editor and recipient of the European Film Award for Best Editor on the film “Locke.‖ DEMON was one of a very few projects invited to take part in editing workshops, organized by the European Film Academy and the Polish Film Academy. The event consisted of a lecture by Ms. Wright and then individual consultations with authors of selected projects, which gave Marcin Wrona and Piotr Kmiecik, the editor, a rare opportunity to enhance the film. Justine’s remarks were included in the final cut.
‖The editing of “Demon” began two weeks after we finished shooting and with small breaks it took five months,‖ Marcin Wrona said. ―The whole process of working on the picture and the sound began right after we had the first version of the film edited. In sound it gave the creators wider possibilities of thinking through the concept of how they wanted to use it in the film.
We edited within the frame and shot with wide lenses to make the scenes look wide in picture. The camera was not supposed to move a lot. As we shot the film and saw how beautiful the production set was and the great costumes the actors had and the choreography they used we knew that it was impossible to keep the camera still. So we changed our original idea so that the film would become better.
I like when the camera is very close to the actor but at the same time it must be just an observer from aside. We shot the film on one camera only – on Alexa, it’s my first film on digital and I am fascinated by this equipment. The picture that it gives, the possibilities that it gives in post-production, the lenses make everything look soft, as if in a Western movie.‖
The Cast
“As an actor I always look for projects that are authentic, truthful and of course interesting‖ says Itay Tiran, (who portrays the lead character ―Python‖). ―I feel that DEMON is all the above. It’s an incredible opportunity for an actor to be able to play two characters in one and to be working on such a well written screenplay. Of course it’s also a story that I particularly cherish because, as with many people coming from Israel, it’s important to me on a very personal mystical level.
It’s a complicated character to play, from the beginning Python is a multi-layered person. He comes to Poland because of love, but as it turns out he’s got a mission to complete, and becomes much more about him finding his roots, than about his bride to be. We worked very hard to express the dybbuk inside his body in a very unconventional way. We worked with choreographers and therapists to get the credible effect. Any actor would be thrilled to get a character like that to play.”
Official selection: New Directors/New Films (2016 Film Society of Lincoln Center and MoMA)
Official selection: Toronto International Film Festival, Vanguard Section, 2015
Winner: Austin Fantastic Fest, Best Horror Feature, 2015
Winner: Haifa Film Festival, Tobias Spencer Award, 2015
Auteurs section.
