One of our most exciting discoveries from this year’s Fantasia Film Festival is Luz, German filmmaker Tilman Singer’s experimental horror debut that weaves its ‘70s and ‘80s arthouse influences into the grain of its 16mm film. As the film prepares for its fall festival run, we’ve partnered with newborn sales company Yellow Veil Pictures (Luz is one of three films on its inaugural slate) for the exclusive reveal of the teaser trailer for Singer’s utterly fearless, unabashedly stylized take on the demonic possession movie. We’ll just go ahead and quote ourselves: “Luz is a pioneer in a new subgenre hereby dubbed Żuławski-core, a deconstruction of the demonic possession film that’s more concerned with discordant aesthetics and worshipping the savage feminine than conventional narrative structure.”
The trailer gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect, incorporating the wide, static shots that make up the film’s intriguing first act and the striking, bloody imagery that attacks the viewer from all sides in the fractured climax. Luana Velis stars as Luz, a Chilean cab driver living in Germany who’s being stalked by a shapeshifting supernatural force that possesses psychiatrist Dr. Rossini (Jan Bluthardt), seen here naked and bloodied up during the hypnosis scene that makes up much of the second half of the film.
Luz’s next stop will be at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this September.