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.
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Christophe KarabacheDirector
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Christophe KarabacheWriter
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Elias SfeirProducer
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Cédrick SpinassouKey CastCharles
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Zalfa SeuratKey CastDora
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Thomas ArnaudKey CastJanick
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Loredana FloriKey CastAnna
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Aurélian PechméjaDirector of Photography
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Project Type:Experimental, Feature
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Genres:Drama, Thriller
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Runtime:1 hour 42 minutes
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Completion Date:May 2, 2017
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Country of Origin:France
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Country of Filming:France
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Language:French
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Sofia Independent Film FestivalSofia
Bulgaria
November 3, 2017 -
Louisville's International Festival of FilmLouisville
United States
September 15, 2017 -
Action On Film FestivalLas Vegas
United States
August 21, 2017
Best Visual Effects -
Berlin International Filmmaker Festival of World CinemaBerlin
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 AwardsChicago
United States
Best Feature Film (Federcio Fellini Award) -
NYC Indie Film Awards
United States
Best Feature/Best Director (Diamond) -
ARFF Barcelona//Around International Film FestivalBarcelona
Spain
Best Cinematography -
The Monkey Bread Tree Film AwardsLondon
United Kingdom
Best Feature -
Calcutta International Cult Film FestivalCalcutta
India
Outstanding achievement Award (Postmodern Film) -
Los Angeles Film Awards
United States
Best Indie Feature/Honorable mention Actress -
Eurasia International Monthly Film FestivalMoscow
Russian Federation
Best feature -
Gold Movie Awards Goddess NikeLondon
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 CompetitionLos Angeles
United States
Best Indie Feature -
Maverick Movie Awards
United States
Five Nominations -
New York Film Awards
United States
Honorable mention Director -
Alternative Film FestivalToronto
Canada
Best Cinematography -
Mindfield Film FestivalAlbuquerque
United States
Best Feature (Platinum)/Best Director (Gold) -
Accolade Global Film CompetitionLa Jolla
United States
Award of Merit -
Depth of Field International Film Festival competition
United States
Award of Excellence -
European Cinematography AwardsWarsaw
Poland
Finalist -
South Film and Arts Academy FestivalRancague
Chile
Best Feature, Best Indie Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best FX Design -
London Independent Film AwardsLondon
United Kingdom
Best Visual Effects -
Maracay International Film & Video FestivalMaracay
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
June 22, 2018
Best Experimental Feature -
Montevideo World Film FestivalMontevideo
Uruguay
July 13, 2018
Best Experimental Feature -
Conception Independent Film AwardsBioBio Region
Chile
August 8, 2018
Distribution Information
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Visiosfeir DistributionCountry: FranceRights: Theatrical
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Shami Media GroupCountry: WorldwideRights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Airline
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).
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.