Aislinn Clarke’s Irish Folk Horror film “Fréwaka” is distributed by New Europe Film Sales Boards.
Before the AFM, when the first footage will be unveiled, New Europe Film Sales has joined the international sales team for Fréwaka, the second feature film directed by Irish filmmaker Aislinn Clarke.
The film, which is being produced in both Irish and English, comes after Clarke’s 2018 found footage horror film The Devil’s Doorway, which IFC acquired for international distribution. S.
A personal tragedy haunts care worker Shoo in Fréwaka, dubbed the first-ever Irish-language horror film.
Shoo is dispatched to a secluded hamlet in order to tend to the agoraphobic woman who fears the Na Sídhe – evil folkloric beings she believes kidnapped her many years ago.
Shoo eventually faces the horrors from her own past as a result of the old woman’s rituals, superstitions, and paranoia, which consume her as the two grow close.
The word ‘fréamhacha,’ which means entwined roots underground, is the source of the title in Irish.
Among the cast are Clare Monnelly (Moone Boy), Bríd N&iachtain (The Banshees of Inisherin, Rise & Frank), and actress Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya (F20) from Ukraine.
“Exploring the tension between the past and present, the personal and the public, this film is an original take on Irish folklore and contemporary Ireland,” says director Clarke.
The director is based in London, Ireland, and L. An. carries the 2020 Gold Fellowship from the Academy of Motion Picture and Science, which honors up-and-coming female directors.
Dermot Lavery for DoubleBand Films and Patrick O’Neill for Wildcard are producing Fréwaka.
Funding for the film comes from the Cine4 scheme, which is supported by Screen Ireland, TG4, Coimisiún na Meán (previously the BAI), and Section 481—the same program that provided funding for the Irish film The Quiet Girl, which was nominated for an Oscar.
CEO of New Europe Jan Naszewski stated, “We’re excited to be part of a film that combines an emotional story with a great sense of eeriness and plays with folk iconography, which we personally love so much.”.
