Dec. 3/San Francisco: San Francisco International Film Festival’s Golden Gate Awards call for entries deadline. (415) 929-5014; fax: (415) 921-5032; ggawards@sfiff.org….Dec. 3/ Dallas: the Video Association of Dallas (VAD) call for entries deadline. Kelly J. Kitchens, (214) 528-1378; kelljkit@ gateway.net; www.videofest.org….Dec. 6/Brooklyn, N.Y.: Freelance Producers Network meeting at Cinema World Stage. (917) 933-5566….Dec. 7/New York: AICP/East’s Holiday Bowling Party at Chelsea Piers Lanes. Jennifer, (212) 420-8900….Dec. 7/New York: New York Women in Communications Inc. (NYWICI) Holiday Breakfast Honoring Dress for Success New York. Amy Peloso, (212) 297-2126….Dec. 8/San Francisco: ITS Workshop On California’s Postproduction Tax Break at Realtime Video, San Francisco. Eileen Kramer, (323) 461-5890….Dec. 8/San Francisco: Broads in Broadcasting’s "Broads Last Bash," a holiday cocktail party at Fuse. (310) 319-6140; broads@spots.net….Dec. 9/Prague: The 1999 AICP Show on Tour at the Museum of Modern Art. (212) 475-2600….Dec. 17/Tahoe City, Calif.: Tahoe International Film Festival (T.I.F.F.) early call for entries deadline (Jan. 14 is the final deadline.) Hilary Kleger, (530) 583-FEST; info@tahoefilmfestival.org….Dec. 23/New York: Adweek’s Best Spots of the Year entry deadline. (212) 536-6453….Jan. 5/San Francisco: San Francisco International Film Festival’s Narrative Feature call for entries deadline. (415) 929-5026; fax: (415) 921-5032; djones@sfiff.org….Jan. 25-27/New Orleans: 37th Annual NATPE Program Conference & Exhibition. (310) 453-4440; www.natpe.org….Jan. 28/Vienna, Va.: Final deadline for entries to the 21st International Monitor Awards. Tracy Murley, (703) 319-0800; fax: (703) 319-1120….Jan. 29-Feb. 3/Key West, Fla.: ITS: The Association of Imaging Technology and Sound’s 13th Annual President’s Retreat at the Hilton Key West. Nancy Zern, (703) 319-0800; fax: (703) 319-1120; nancyzern@erols.com….Feb. 24-25/New York: AAF Foundation 25 Most Promising Minority Students. Rebecca Martin, (202) 898-0089; rmartin@aaf.org….March 21/New York: AAF Advertising Hall of Fame. Lisa Rubin, (202) 898-0089; lrubin@aaf.org….April 20-May 4/San Francisco: The 43rd San Francisco International Film Festival. Brian Gordon, (415) 929-5014; ggawards@sfiff.org….
June 20-22/Las Vegas: AAF American Advertising Conference. Karen Cohn, (202) 898-0089; kcohn@aaf.org….
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More