May 3-June 4/Hollywood: World Animation Celebration. (818) 575-9615; fax: (818) 575-9620; wacfestusa@aol.com; www.wacfest.comA.
– June 5/New York: New York Women in Communications Inc. (NYWICI)s June Cocktails & Conversations with Deborah Bright, Ph.D. Amy Peloso, (212) 297-2126; www.nywici.orgA.
– June 6-7/Princeton, N.J.: Marketers Creativity 2000. www.kidpowerx.comA.
– June 6-7/New York: 2000 AICP Show & Lecture Series at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). (212) 475-2600….
– June 7/New York: The AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial. (212) 475-2600….
– June 13/New York: N.Y. Freelance Producers Network meeting at Napoleon Art & Production. (917) 933-5566A.
– June 14-15/Chicago: U.S. International Film and Video Festival at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Hotel. (630) 834-7773; fax: (630) 834-5565; www.filmfestawards.comA.
– June 16/Los Angeles: MVPA Directors Cuts 2000 submission deadline. (323) 469-9494A.
– June 20-22/Las Vegas: AAF American Advertising Conference. Karen Cohn, (202) 898-0089; kcohn@aaf.orgA.
– June 24/Los Angeles: Cine Gear Expo 2000. (323) 256-9056; fax: (323) 254-8696; details323@earthlink.netA.
– June 26-27/Toronto: Kid Power Canada. www.kidpowerx.comA.
– July 11-12/Chicago: eKid Power. www.kidpowerx.comA.
– July 14-16/North Hollywood: VES 2000: A Festival of Visual Effects. Addie Bua, (818) 708-3355; adgogirl@aol.comA.
– July 29-Aug. 4/London: Rushes Soho Shorts Festival. 0207 7851 6207; www.sohoshorts.comA.
– Sept. 13/San Francisco: The 9th Annual AICP Show at SF MoMA hosted by AICP/West. Jessica Sumption, (323) 960-4763….
– Sept. 13-14/Miami: Kid Power Latin America. www.kidpowerx.com….
– Sept. 20/Chicago: Teen Power 2000. www.kidpowerx.com….
– Sept. 21/Winston-Salem, N.C.: The 9th Annual AICP Show at the North Carolina School of the Arts hosted by AICP/Southeast. Tom Gibney, (615) 354-9001….
– September 22-25/Los Angeles: 109th AES Convention. (212) 661-8528; fax: (212) 682-0477; hq@aes.org; www.aes.orgA.
– October 27/Los Angeles: The IDA Awards. (310) 284-8422, ext. 26; fax: (310) 785-9334; idaawards@documentary.orgA.
– Nov. 11/Miami: The 9th Annual AICP Show hosted by AICP/Florida. Peggy McKinley, (305) 666-2528….
– Nov. 16/Chicago: The 9th Annual AICP Show at the Chicago Historical Society hosted by AICP/Midwest. Alan Sadler, (312) 573-6001….
– Nov. 17/Dallas: The 9th Annual AICP Show at the Hall of State hosted by AICP/Southwest. M.L. Nelson, (214) 741-3336….
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