Production company HALAL has added director Thessa Meijer to its global commercialmaking roster. Earlier this month Meijer won a coveted Grand Prix honor at CICLOPE Festival 2019 for her short film The Walking Fish, which was her first production with HALAL. The fantastical tale has scored with multiple juries worldwide (including a Special Jury Prize and Gold Screen in Cannes at the Young Directors Awards, and a Gold Medal at the 1.4 awards), in addition to being the 2020 Oscars submission for the Netherlands in the Short Film category.
The news that Meijer is now officially joining HALAL’s commercial roster is marked with the release of their first campaign, in collaboration with Amsterdam-based eyewear brand Ace & Tate. Meijer wrote and directed the short in Ace & Tate’s “Take Another Look” campaign, with photographer Nick van Tiem shooting the images.
Known for a dream-like aesthetic and humorous undertones, Meijer translated the Dutch brand’s “Take Another Look” message by creating lighthearted, beautifully striking visuals that play with the viewers’ perception. Meijer said, “We wanted every aspect of the campaign: from the visual landscape, to the sound design, to the relation between the characters and their environment–to act as catalysts for viewers to see things differently. I took a lot of inspiration from the shapes of the glasses themselves: square, round and so forth–and referenced them throughout the film in different ways.”
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 — and those many "Babadook" memes — 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 — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — 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