Private Project

VENUS OBSCURA

A theater director leads his two actors and his assistant to an isolated cottage in the open countryside in order to better rehearse for their theatrical performance of Heiner Müller's « Hamlet-machine ».
Once on sight, the small troupe faces not only the dullness of daily routine, tensions and the usual hurdles of rehearsals, but eventually strange occurrences that turn out to be extraordinary and extreme in nature.

  • Christophe Karabache
    Director
  • Christophe Karabache
    Writer
  • Elias Sfeir
    Producer
  • Cédrick Spinassou
    Key Cast
    Charles
  • Zalfa Seurat
    Key Cast
    Dora
  • Thomas Arnaud
    Key Cast
    Janick
  • Loredana Flori
    Key Cast
    Anna
  • Aurélian Pechméja
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 42 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 2, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    France
  • Language:
    French
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Sofia Independent Film Festival
    Sofia
    Bulgaria
    November 3, 2017
  • Louisville's International Festival of Film
    Louisville
    United States
    September 15, 2017
  • Action On Film Festival
    Las Vegas
    United States
    August 21, 2017
    Best Visual Effects
  • Berlin International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema
    Berlin
    Germany
    October 6, 2017
    Best Supporting Actress
  • Wolves Independent International Film Awards

    Lithuania
    Best Director
  • Sydney World Film Festival

    Australia
    Best Narrative Feature Film
  • Amarcord Chicago Arthouse TV and Video Fest Awards
    Chicago
    United States
    Best Feature Film (Federcio Fellini Award)
  • NYC Indie Film Awards

    United States
    Best Feature/Best Director (Diamond)
  • ARFF Barcelona//Around International Film Festival
    Barcelona
    Spain
    Best Cinematography
  • The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    Best Feature
  • Calcutta International Cult Film Festival
    Calcutta
    India
    Outstanding achievement Award (Postmodern Film)
  • Los Angeles Film Awards

    United States
    Best Indie Feature/Honorable mention Actress
  • Eurasia International Monthly Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    Best feature
  • Gold Movie Awards Goddess Nike
    London
    United Kingdom
    Best Film No Budget
  • Barcelona Planet Film Festival

    Spain
    Best Visual Effects
  • 12 Months Film Festival

    Romania
    Best Feature Fiction
  • Five Continents International Film Festival

    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    Best Indie Feature/Best Supporting Actress/Honorable mention Actor
  • Festigious International Film Competition
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Best Indie Feature
  • Maverick Movie Awards

    United States
    Five Nominations
  • New York Film Awards

    United States
    Honorable mention Director
  • Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    Best Cinematography
  • Mindfield Film Festival
    Albuquerque
    United States
    Best Feature (Platinum)/Best Director (Gold)
  • Accolade Global Film Competition
    La Jolla
    United States
    Award of Merit
  • Depth of Field International Film Festival competition

    United States
    Award of Excellence
  • European Cinematography Awards
    Warsaw
    Poland
    Finalist
  • South Film and Arts Academy Festival
    Rancague
    Chile
    Best Feature, Best Indie Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best FX Design
  • London Independent Film Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    Best Visual Effects
  • Maracay International Film & Video Festival
    Maracay
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    June 22, 2018
    Best Experimental Feature
  • Montevideo World Film Festival
    Montevideo
    Uruguay
    July 13, 2018
    Best Experimental Feature
  • Conception Independent Film Awards
    BioBio Region
    Chile
    August 8, 2018
Distribution Information
  • Visiosfeir Distribution
    Country: France
    Rights: Theatrical
  • Shami Media Group
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Airline
Director Biography - Christophe Karabache

French-Lebanese filmmaker. Born in Beirut in 1979, he completed his Masters in Cinema Studies at Université Paris III - Sorbonne Nouvelle (France) and through a joint program at The University of Iowa (USA).
Karabache began his exploration of film at l’Etna, an alternative workshop in Paris. He initially made experimental films.
His current filmmaking practice shifts between documentary and fiction.
His films have been showcased at several international film festivals (in the USA, Lebanon, New Caledonia, Bosnia, Canada, UK, Greece, France, Benine, Australia, Hungary, Germany, Venezuela, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, Romania, Poland, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Italy, India, Ireland, Bulgaria, Chile, Uruguay, etc.) and theatrically released in movie theaters in France by Visiosfeir Distribution. In 2018, he signed a global distribution deal with Shami Media Group (New York).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Territory, frontier, fear of the other, ill suspicion, the unease of our world...
Manipulation is the key word of the project.
A worrisome atmosphere, one weaved of mystery, of heightened and fragile anxiety, of the desire to scare the other, interspersed with paranoid vision, make believe, and the subtlety of crime/murder. We don't see everything, we think we can guess, we think we know, we are sure of certain things but in the end we are wrong.
The characters are on the losing side of the battle. Besides boredom and the desire to please, they waver between feeling energized, spent, and suffering.
A mixture of poetry and violence in the mise-en-scène (sometimes exaggerated and blunt and other times subtle and suggestive). The film juggles nightmares and reality, the hidden and the visible, expectations and fear. There is no escape, only contradictions, situation reversals that turn absurd and end tragically.