‘Demonic’
Pia Borg’s Demonic, which investigates the mass hysteria which swept through the US in the 1980s, will have its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Produced by Anna Vincent, Bonnie McBride and Borg, the film is among five from around the world that will have special screenings in the Cannes Critics’ Week sidebar.
Revisiting the Satanic Panic which was fueled by a rash of false allegations made against daycare centres, the hybrid documentary/narrative had its world premiere last year at the Adelaide Film Festival.
Blending archive, animation and reconstruction, the Melbourne-based filmmaker, who is currently lecturing in Los Angeles, uncovered the forces at play between psychiatry, media and false memory. The key cast consisted of Angie Christophel, Hanna Gabriella Galbraith and Robert Blake.
Demonic is among 15 short films selected for Critics Week from more than 1,600 submitted. “Pia is a visionary filmmaker and it was an absolute privilege to work with her to bring her vision to the screen,” Vincent and McBride said.
The AFF supported the film through its HIVE fund along with Screen Australia, the ABC and a production grant from the SAFC.
Maxx Corkindale was the DOP with David Scarborough as the editor, Mike Darren on sound, costume designer Mariot Kerr and make-up artist Tracy Phillpot. It will screen on the ABC later this year.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS, SHORT FILMS
Demonic, dir: Pia Borg, Australia
Naptha, dir: Moin Hussain, UK
Please Speak Continuously And Describe Your Experience As They Come To You, dir: Brandon Cronenberg, Canada
Invisible Hero, dir: Cristèle Alves Meira, Portugal/France
Tenzo, dir: Katsuya Tomita, Japan