Interview:
Kier-La Janisse,
writer/director,
"Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched:
A History of Folk Horror"
Former Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest programmer Kier-La Janisse offers an exhaustive examination of folk horror cinema with her Severin Films-produced documentary, the SXSW Online Midnighter Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror. Janisse’s deep dive into folk horror cinema begins with outlining its literary roots and defining its unifying themes and properties. The documentary then details the undeniable impact and influence of the “Unholy Trinity” of Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, and The Wicker Man; compares and contrasts the folk horror cinema of England, the United States, and elsewhere; and dissects the reasons behind the current resurgence in folk horror cinema. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror will premiere 8 p.m. March 16 during SXSW Online. Kier-La Janisse served as the first lead programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse and cofounded its collectible art boutique Mondo. She also was a Fantastic Fest programmer and a member of the American Genre Film Archive’s advisory board. She produced the 2020 Severin Films documentary Tales of the Uncanny and wrote the 2007 book “Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi” and the 2012 book “House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films.” She is currently working on the books “Truth and Soul: The Films of Robert Downey, Sr.,” “Cockfight: Silence, Ritual and the (De)Construction of Masculinity in Monte Hellman's Cockfighter,” and “Unhealthy and Aberrant’: Depictions of Horror Fandom in Film and Television.” Aired: March 11, 2021. Web site: https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/ https://online.sxsw.com/ https://www.kierlajanisse.com https://woodlandsdarkanddaysbewitched.com https://www.facebook.com/woodlandsdarkanddaysbewitched/ |
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