Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Anamaria Marinca (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta (Tabu) and Félix Maritaud (Sauvage) are among the cast of writer-director Goran Stolevski’s You Won’t Be Alone, which recently wrapped filming in Serbia.
Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, the supernatural horror follows a young witch who is left to go feral in the woods.
Curious about life as a human, she accidentally kills a peasant in the village, then takes her shape to see what life is like in her skin. This ignites her deep-seated curiosity to experience life inside the bodies of others.
The film marks the debut feature for Macedonian-Australian Stolevski, following on from 25 shorts, including Would You Look At Her, winner of Best International Short Film at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Macedonian actress Sara Klimoska, who starred in that project, also reunites with Stolevski for You Won’t Be Alone.
Causeway Films’ Kristina Ceyton and Sam Jennings are the film’s producers, together with Balkanic Media’s Jonathan English as co-producer. Rapace, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Stephen Kelliher, Michelle Pearce, Dale Roberts, Jonathan Page, and Bryce Menzies are on board as executive producers.
Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights for the film in a deal brokered by Bankside FIlms, with Universal Pictures to handle ANZ.
Major production investment came via Screen Australia, with other financial backers including Film Victoria, Head Gear Films and Metrol Technology.
In a statement, Ceyton and Jennings said they were “proud and excited” to be involved in Stolevski’s debut.
“Making a film amidst a pandemic has certainly been challenging, but with such supportive financiers in Screen Australia and Film Victoria, our post partner KOJO Studios, Head Gear Films, and the dedication of our amazingly committed international cast and the incredible crew here in Serbia, we feel very grateful,” they said.
Production now moves to Melbourne to complete sound and picture post-production with support from KOJO.