Private Project

An Artist's Curse

When a malevolent creature resides inside the artwork of a 10 year old girl, fate is sealed, with trauma from her childhood echoing across her life. Art and horror collide when the girl becomes a Mother and desperately tries to come to terms with her delusions and the shocking truth of her daughter.

  • Steven J Mihaljevich
    Director
    The Xrossing, Violett
  • Steven J Mihaljevich
    Writer
    The Xrossing, Violett
  • Jay Jay Jegathesan
    Producer
    The Saint, Soul Catcher, The Quiet, iRony, Bird Drone
  • Jay Jay Jegathesan
    Key Cast
    "Demon Artist"
    The Saint, Soul Catcher, The Quiet, iRony, Bird Drone
  • Georgia Eyres
    Key Cast
    "Sonya"
  • Valentina Blagojevic
    Key Cast
    "Daughter"
  • Mani Shanks
    Key Cast
    "Sonya as a Child"
  • Simon Carter
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Helena Polley
    Production Design
  • Shane Piggott
    Director of Photography
  • Ben Chase
    Original Music
  • Steven J Mihaljevich
    Original Music
  • Steven J Mihaljevich
    Editor
  • Radheya Jegatheva
    A/Producer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Thriller, Mental Health
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 21, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Steven J Mihaljevich

Steven is a Perth filmmaker with a background in education, media, and film. Steven has produced, directed, written and edited two feature films: The Xrossing in 2020, which had it’s international premiere at the St Louis International Film Festival, and earned several awards including best feature at Toronto Independent Film Festival. The Xrossing was distributed theatrically by Halo Films with worldwide online distribution through Freestyle Digital Media.

Steven’s second feature film, the WA psychodrama, Violett, has
recently been picked up by Syndicado for worldwide distribution
after the film won Best Australian Feature Film and Best Australian Actress (Georgia Eyers) at the A Night of Horror Sydney International Film Festival. Violett was also awarded Best Narrative Feature (under 1 mill) and Best Performance (under 18) recently at the WA Screen Culture Awards.

As writer, director, editor, producer and co-composer of Violett,
Steven also earned several other International awards including
Best Director at the London Film Awards, best composer, best
editing and best feature film at the Crown Wood International Film Festival.

Both The Xrossing and Violett were produced by Steven’s
production company, Playtime Motion Pictures; a boutique media production house that has been responsible for numerous short films and music video productions in collaboration with Australia’s Got Talent finalists such as Sisters Doll and Jonny Taylor.

Before Steven made his first feature film, he worked for nearly ten years in education as a Specialist Performing Arts Drama teacher, coordinating specialist & academy drama programs across Hampton Senior High School and Joseph Banks Secondary College.

As a teacher, Steven developed extensive theatre productions,
working with students and professionals on shows to create
enriching experiences for students. Steven also taught ATAR MPA; Media Production and Analysis and ATAR Drama Studies.
Steven brings an extended breadth of experience into his
filmmaking, with an extensive history of film editing, music
production, sound editing and acting/performance coaching. He is passionate about crafting thematic stories that strike a balance of confrontation, education, engagement and style.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

An Artist’s Curse tells the story of a melancholic Mother Sonya, who sees the world from the P.O.V of her mentally impaired mind as she tries to unravel the shocking truth about her daughter.

It is a story about grief, personal demons and how we see the world from a different colour when experiencing mental trauma or suffering deeply. We all have the capacity to see things from a different perspective when clinically depressed or broken. This is what the film is about.

I wanted to create a story whereby the viewer bakes in the mind of an unfulfilled, artistic Mother, suffering from the loss of her child who has gone missing, who is trying desperately to regain her memory. We live in her fantasy, in her imaginations and in her delusions whilst discovering the influence of her childhood trauma.

It is my hope that viewers enjoy the film’s metaphorical style.
Thank you for reading this and I hope to see you at the festival.

Steven J. Mihaljevich
Writer/Director/Editor/Co-Composer