A release date for Olalla!

Olalla awaits her fate at the hands of the crazed villagers

An update on the post-production of Olalla:

The final cut (edit) of the film will be done September 10th, at which point we will be compiling the thumbnails of stills from the film and emailing everyone who selected a perk (from the IndieGoGo campaign) that contained a signed photo from the film to make their selection!

We have also found a fantastic company to do the sound mix, and that, along with the color grading, will be done October 1st for an October 31st release of the film! Hooray!

I'll have more news as the post-production progresses.

Don't forget, you can see more updates and behind the scenes photos on the Olalla Facebook Page (link)!

Olalla: now "in the can"!

So happy with the shoot!
(photo: Miguel Inti Canedo)

I just got back from a 10 hour freezing cold bus ride from Potosí, and I couldn't be happier. My fourth film as director, Olalla, is now in the can! Thanks to my cast and tireless, talented crew we pulled off a huge amount of shooting in only a few days.

I got to work with Cristian Del Rio, a fantastic Flamenco musician and actor, who added his amazing voice and knowledge of period music to the film (Fatigaaaa!!!).

Rhobess Pierre played the unforgettable priest, with the unexpected and very welcome addition of some physical comedy to the role! In character, he even made me feel guilty in one scene, and I wasn't even raised with religion.

Alejandro Loayza (seen with me in the photo on the left) played the younger Felipe, severely freaking me out in the best way possible with his  excellent acting. He also played a key extra in the big scene, showing his diversity.

Eric Calancha not only terrified me with his Enrique, the instigator of Olalla's violent end, but was extremely helpful, as always, as PA.

Through Jesus Relos Ramos we found the two girls, Rosario and Valeria, who look just like Mila Joya and I, who were amazing actresses as our younger representations, as well as the terrifying crowd of villagers who drag Olalla out of the chapel, whip her, and burn her at the stake. Among them, the girls' father, Jaime, who was a super helpful key extra.

Mila, who acted in the first part of the film, was there as a fantastic assistant and key extra in the big scene, instigating the crowd to throw insults at poor Olalla.

Miguel Inti Canedo, as always, knew just what I wanted. In each film, he exceeds himself as Director of Photography in my films. The cinematography in this film blows my mind.

Gina Alcon exceeded herself as PA, actress (striking fear into my heart with her performance as one of the vicious townsfolk), and all around super helpful person on the set.

Sol Calle did a fantastic job with the make-up and hair, and entertained us with stories during downtime.

Rodrigo León continues to grab good sound for the film, and his massive knowledge of historic details, and art, add special touches.

Beatriz Lizarazu Jauregui, and her daughter, Beatriz Rivera Lizarazu, came all the way from La Paz to be key extras in the big scene. I can't wait to work with them again!

And what shall I say about the Hacienda Cayara, but that Arturo and David did such a great job that we could just relax and shoot the film. They even put up the cross with an incredibly awesome-looking platform.

Last, but certainly not least, my producer, Jac Avila exceeded himself with this huge production. Somehow, all I had to do was stand back while he produced the impossible and awesome. So many great things fell into place on this production that I think he must be sacrificing chickens in the back patio, just to make sure I get what I want.

I forgot to mention that I was dragged by one of our actors, a donkey, down the road when he decided his scenes were over. I'm pretty bruised up from the experience, but it gave me some perspective vis a vi the whipping/burning at the stake scene. Being out in the cold without clothes is nothing compared to being dragged down a rocky road by a burro.

Also, there was a great dog who acted in the film in the last scenes. I almost took him home with me he was so good, repeating the scenes, doing exactly the same thing in each take. Amazing. Until he started nibbling on the other cast & crew members.

The whole gang, in the 1880s scenes.

While I'm so happy with the film that I could burst, I also feel the let-down that comes with finishing a film. It's like a postpartum depression. All that remains is to nurture the film into maturity with post-production. My part is largely over. Sigh, it's like I have no purpose in life when I'm not directing a movie.

The only cure is to start right in on the next film, Debutante.

Discussing locations with Jac around the Hacienda Cayara.

Olalla... and more!

The contemporary Olalla

The date is approaching in which we shoot the final scenes for Olalla, those set in the 1880s. This weekend we leave for Potosí, and we return to La Paz on the 25th. We'll be traveling more than 10 hours to the rather far-away location.

And what a location it is, a huge colonial hacienda, with its own chapel, big yards, courtyards. Everything I wanted, and more, for this film. One downside is the lack of internet. As a cyborg, I will find that rather disconcerting. We have verified that our phones work there, however. So, it won't be quite as cut-off as when we shot Barbazul (Bluebeard) in Chivisivi.

A lot will happen in those days, many key scenes will be shot, leading up to the big, climactic scene in which my character is dragged out by an angry mob, chained to a cross, whipped, and burned alive. She is a vampire after all. In those times, the general population was not so forgiving of bloodlust...

Planning the FX for the big scene has been challenging, and crucial to making it work. I think the results will be fantastic.

We've been pre-producing this part of the film for quite some time, it's period 1880s, so more work involved in terms of costumes, props, and set design. I'm absolutely ready to get this film in the can.

Which leads me to my next film... which it looks like I'll be directing this year as well. Maybe even in July... called Debutante,  film based on the George Bernard Shaw play, Pygmalion. Of course my version, co-written by Jac Avila and myself, will be a bit more... racy (read: absolutely perverted), as well as being a dark comedy.

And there's Justine, which Jac Avila - my partner in crime, if making movies is a crime - will be directing, a labor of love based on the Marquis de Sade's very famous tale of woe, and innocence lost.

We're still securing locations for that film, but we have some great leads, and some excellent actors and crew already on board. I say Labor of Love, because it's a huge project, one that started as a bit more modest and has grown exponentially. Making a period piece is never easy, and this one is more ambitious than most. Carriages, and powdered wigs, anyone? While challenging, it's a worthwhile project, a story that has been told before in cinema, but never like this.

Last, but not least, I also directed a short, existential film this year, based on a story by Jack Hunter, called Ekeko. Here's the short description: "Is a folkloric doll responsible for the murder of a young woman by her husband?".

I shot it entirely on a GoPro, which was challenging, as well as the "found footage" style, which I had previously never used. But the shots turned out great, and the crazy physical effect I made is pretty awesome. I'm happy with it.

Right now, it's being considered for film festivals, and will be included in a film called Paranoia Tapes, and has a lot of other great filmmakers involved, including the creator of the PollyGrind film festival.

My good friend Ralphus pointed out to me that I might have more free time if I wasn't always working on 4 or 5 films at the same time. But what would be the fun in that? Also, I have no other life outside of making films, so I have no idea what I would do with all that free time, other than watch awesome K-pop music videos recommended to me by C. Dean Andersson.

That's all for now, I'll see you on the other side of Olalla!

Olalla: The IndieGoGo Campaign

Just a few days ago, we began shooting the contemporary scenes for Olalla, my fourth feature film as director. I also am the protagonist in this film. Cool beans! You can read more about the shooting of the film on the Olalla Facebook Page.

So, last week we launched the IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds for the scenes set in the late 1800's. In particular a huge blow-out AWESOME scene in which Olalla is dragged out of her home by a mob of angry villagers, chained to a cross, whipped, and burned at the stake. Intense, I know. And that scene involves a ton of extras in period costume, a great location, and a lot of production. So, we're trying to raise funds to make it the most awesome, intense scene ever!

We've kept the cost low for the contemporary scenes by working with a small crew, sourcing a great location from a friend, and cutting corners where we could. Even as such, those scenes still look big-budget! Because we're that good. See for yourself in this production still, below. Awesome, right?!

Notice the nice lighting here. And this is raw, without post-production.

We really want to make the huge cross/whipping/burning-at-the-stake scene the best ever to be seen on the big screen, so please consider helping us do that by taking a look at the campaign! We have tons of perks for your contribution, like a pre-sale of the Download/DVD (at a discount), autographed photos, the book (by Robert Louis Stevenson) signed by Amy Hesketh (me), t-shirts, copies of the script signed by Amy Hesketh (me) and other cast members, an Associate Producer credit, an opportunity to have Amy Hesketh (me) shoot an interview just for you (answering your questions), the chance to be an extra in the big "burning at the stake" scene, an Executive Producer credit, and much more! It's all really good stuff. Seriously, there's something for everyone, for every budget.

So far we've reached over 10% of our goal. You can help us reach 100%!!!

Here's a link to the campaign right here!

And here's the pitch video below, telling you more about what we're trying to do. 

It's also funny, so I urge you to watch it.

Death, Maleficarum, Reviews, Olalla

As some of you may already know from my posts on Facebook, my father passed away not long ago. Although I was supposed to be prepared for it, I wasn't. So, I took an emergency trip up to the great white North, saw friends and family, and slogged through a bunch of bureaucratic paperwork. Why does death involve so much paperwork? Incredible.

Robert Louis Stevenson, my new BF

I'm back in the South now, where the water goes down the drain the other way, and am getting back to the project at hand, my next movie, Olalla, in the midst of mourning. My next movie involves death. And a strange family.

I was perusing the interwebs and found that someone had written a review about Maleficarum recently on horrornews.net. You can read it right here!

I also received some spectacular reviews of Le Marquis de la Croix and Barbazul from the Beverly Hills Outlook, which will be published this year. Here are a couple of excerpts below:

Le Marquis> "This intense and focused Bolivian production, handsomely mounted by Amy Hesketh and Jac Avila with just the right visual accents and splashes of color for Decadent Cinema, is a master class in film direction, courtesy of Hesketh herself."

Wow, "masterclass in film direction", thanks!

Barbazul> "This Latinization of Bluebeard is the most successful adaptation of that fairy tale to the cinema to date, as, in it, cineaste Amy Hesketh subtly expands her thematics from her already established central concern of Control (of one being over another) to Complicity."

Again, seriously, thanks!

A bit of Inspiration

Olalla also includes themes of Control and Complicity. I do seem to like those themes, don't I? I'm also including Incest, Genetics, Vampirism, the Victorian, and the Gothic. Just to round things out.

More Inspiration

Maleficarum - Dean Andersson's View

As requested, here's horror writer *Dean Andersson's take on Maleficarum! (Contains Spoilers!)

 "Amy—I downloaded Maleficarum and just finished watching it. That fan I talked to at the convention—he did not praise the film enough. It was so much more than even I had expected. I’m not a filmmaker, so I’m not sure just how Jac pulled it off, but one thing I do know is that you and Mila totally sold it. Incredible. Look, I’m sitting here with tears drying on my face. That is impossible. I’ve watched so many films. They almost never strike that deeply. You two and Jac’s direction made the women’s plight so horribly believable, so real, and yet heroic. 

Several scenes are going to keep replaying in my head. The moment when Mila’s character was looking up at you, and she almost said okay to the confession, then turned and spit at the Inquisitor instead, I felt like cheering, even though I, and she, knew it was going to mean even more horror. And the scene where your character was over the fire while Mila’s character kept begging, “Enough!” with her face twisted by anguish for you, but the men, like statues, ignoring her, painted a perfect picture of impersonal authority that unfortunately doesn’t stop in our world with the historical Inquisition. And the scene where they allow her to sit and you crawl to her and she strokes your hair, there was such love in that scene, how could it help but tear at a viewer?

 And then your agonizing crawl to her after your rape, you made each movement seem so hard, so painful, but your wounded character was so heroically determined, I felt like shouting “Somebody HELP her, damnit!” I guess you could say that by then I felt very “involved.” And your character’s prolonged burning—have you seen Oliver Reed’s death by burning scene in Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS? I always loved Reed’s work, but I swear you could have taught him some new tricks. Really. I kept hoping someone would rescue you in time. But it went on and on as the flames slowly grew—then the surprise ending, very satisfying, and even though your character was scarred and crippled, the two women survived! And triumphed. Excellent.  

You mentioned that the director’s cut had uninterrupted torture scenes, but I think having the torture scenes interrupted by the “reality show” testimonies and flashbacks kept the viewer from becoming numb to the brutality of what was happening. Still, yes, I’d like to see Jac’s director’s cut sometime to compare them.  

But if he feels as I do about the insanity of the Inquisition, and I’d guess from the film he just might, you can tell him that in my opinion he drove that message clear through the wall and out the other side. Obviously, everything about the film (even that incredible choice for music during the tortures…sweet piano chords? Brilliant contrast! And their repetition became a little like Chinese water torture to the ears) left me very impressed! Thanks so much!"

When you get this kind of feedback for a movie it's fabulous. I am so very pleased that this movie affected Dean in this way. Films should be like mirrors to our souls, so each person will see and feel something which is deep inside of them. They will react and respond, and I love every minute of that. Each time someone sees something unique in a movie in which I have participated, I feel that the great cultural dialogue becomes more and bigger than all of us.

*Dean Andersson, also known as C. Dean Andersson, is a prolific horror writer of such novels as I Am Dracula, and Torture Tomb. You can find out more about him and his books RIGHT HERE! And here on Amazon.com.

I answer some questions from fans

It took me long enough, but I finally got around to answering the questions my kind fans sent me about Maleficarum. Here they are below in five clips. Enjoy!

The movie Maleficarum is available on DVD Here and Download Here!

The First Teaser of Maleficarum

So... the very first teaser of Maleficarum has been released, enjoy!