Let this filmmaker’s journey in indie film inspire you.
One thing great about Sundance is its ability to elevate new voices, perspectives, and topics. That’s why playing the fest is always a major goal for filmmakers of all backgrounds—the event provides a platform like none other, and everybody’s journey onto that platform is wonderfully different.
For first-time feature director Chloe Okuno, that meant taking her film Watcher through several years of development, shooting on location in Bucharest during a high point of the pandemic, and overcoming several challenges on set.
Watcher is a psychological thriller that follows Julia (played by Maika Monroe, in another delicious horror role). Julia has just moved to Romania with her fiancé (Karl Glusman) when she notices the man in the window across the way (Burn Gorman, giving an amazingly understated performance). He’s always watching, it seems, but no one takes Julia seriously when she expresses her discomfort. She’s very much alone, unable to speak the country’s language, and increasingly paranoid. Oh, yeah, there’s also a serial killer running rampant in the city.
Author: Jo Light
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
