# fear and terror / witchhunt / nature / darkness / folk horror
HAGAZUSSA
horror / Germany, Austria /2017 / 1h 42 min
A folk horror that takes place in XV century Alps. A young goatherd and her mother leave in a remote hut, deep in the mountain woods. As her mother mysteriously falls ill and dies, she is left scarred and traumatized. 20 years pass. Herself a mother now, she slowly begins to discover a dark presence lurking in the old woods. In her psychotic delusion, the borders between reality and nightmare begin to melt into each other, as she is again confronted with the death of her mother and the wicked evil within her own self.
“Hagazussa” is a dark tale of a woman’s struggle with her own sanity. In a time when pagan beliefs of witches spread fear into the minds of the rural folk, the film aims to explore the thin line between ancient beliefs, magic and delusional psychosis. The director admits that his style is influenced by the cinema of Adrei Tarkowski, Andrzej Żuławski or Friderich Wilhelm. Film that has been appreciated on many prestigious festivals, considered by critics as one of the most remarkable horror movies of 2017.
Director’s statement: „The aim of Hagazussa was to dissect the mind of the main character Albrun, a simple goatherd living in solitude and tormented by the local town folk. After researching into old pagan beliefs and folklore about witches that were supposed to roam the mountain woods in those times, my interest was to develop a character that these folk tales would have branded as a witch. But dig deeper into her psyche and you see her as a traumatized, mistreated and finally delusional person constructed by society. Another point was to understand what utterly evil things people were lead to do while suffering from psychosis in the middle ages and being surrounded by superstitions and religious prosecution. The film tries to depict a very personal and empathetic mental image of a nightmarish and sick mind.”
director: Lukas Feigelfeld screenwriter: Lukas Feigelfeld cast: Aleksandra Cwen, Celina Peter, Claudia Martini cinematography: Mariel Baqueiro editing: Jörg Volkmar music: MMMD language: German subtitles: Polish, English
