I might have a decidedly unhealthy man-crush on all things Shane Carruth. Hashtag Primer – Hashtag Upstream Color – Hashtag The Dead Center, et al. Primer caught the attention of the world of geeks by his crafting of the single most immersive time travel movie of all time, and all for about a buck fifty. But it was the artistic brilliance of Upstream Color that really blew me away. And since then, even his screenplay for A Topiary has transfixed. And, as our hopes for A Modern Ocean swing in the breeze, literally any new news about Mr. Carruth fires about 27 email into my inbox as I’ve trip-wired most of the internet with his name. (Yeah, that does sound obsessive now that I’m saying it out loud. BUT THE TECHNICOLOR BRILLIANCE MAN!)
Well, this morning my inbox practically exploded with the heft and impact of all my “Shane Carruth” trip-wires all triggering explosions simultaneously. Apparently – and I am furiously turning the internet upside down trying to learn more even as I type – Shane Carruth has lent his name to a film called The Wanting Mare. It seems this film is something of a fever dream, crafted from the mind of Nicholas Ashe Bateman, not by Shane Carruth. But it could have been – which is why Shane Carruth is on board as an Executive Producer.
Maybe the teaser trailer will help give us a bit of the vision and scope of this thing…
A town of women, all from the same family, all have the same dream/nightmare. And the code is, they are to not tell anyone about the dream. And when one of them does share, everything goes sideways. Maybe someone flees across the waters to the cooler cousin city? And maybe there, maybe they won’t make the same mistakes that they made back in Withren? I’m not sure. Here is the official synopsis – should have probably started with this:
“In the world of Anmaere, north of the city of Whithren, wild horses run through the moorlands and up the coast. These horses are the city’s most valuable export, and as a result are hunted, trapped, sold & shipped across the sea once a year. For those in Whithren, this trade creates lucrative and exciting possibilities: the chance to escape their constantly sweltering city to head to the Western continent of Levithen, or just to begin again. Meanwhile, in a small house just north of the city, a young woman dies in childbirth. Her last words are an attempt to tell her daughter of the life she will have and her inheritance of a recurring dream that must be kept secret; for it contains the memories of another age long before us, one where magic and myth were alive in the world.”
Woah. OK. That’s intense. Alright, if you are excited about this, even half as much as I am, you might totally dig this IndieGoGo The Wanting Mare pitch and background video.
Another wild detail about this movie is that it was basically crafted in a storage shed and blitzed with glorious special effects throughout. The above video talks about Bateman’s, and his family’s, long standing love for the world of miniatures. Apparently this film is a marvel on par with Sky Captain and Sin City. Oh, and if you are interested in watching the world premier of The Wanting Mare (and a bucketload of more films) then you need to get your badge for the Chattanooga Film Festival’s first online event, which…yes,…is happening this weekend. I should be charging you for this link…but I really am a magnanimous guy. Single Day Access is available for $10, All Access Badges for $30. Here are all the films that will be at the show this weekend.
I, for one just, gave the Chattanooga Film Festival my PayPal account and asked them to give it back when they were done. Totally stoked about The Wanting Mare. Totally stoked.
Edited by: CY
