A first clip has been unveiled from Luna Carmoon‘s feature debut “Hoard,” which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
In the film, set in 1984 London, 7-year-old Maria and her mother live in their own loving world built on sorting through bins and collecting shiny rubbish. One night, their world falls apart, and the film joins Maria a decade later, living with her foster mother. An older stranger, Michael, then enters their home, opening the door to past trauma, magic and madness.
“‘Hoard’ came from a place of venom; spite really is the great transformer. It was a story I was writing for just me, the world of ‘Hoard’ and its characters saved me truly,” Carmoon told PvNew. “I never intended it to be seen … I was going to leave it at the bottom of my bed wrapped in string for the Newshopper and family to find to their shock and horror, but then the sadness transformed to venom which transformed it into script which transformed it into this love and a tale of healing.”
Carmoon added, “It’s no surprise it spewed out of me in the spring of 2020 when none of us knew of future and so much uncertainty, so I guess my mind entered fast with past and into the memory vaults I was led and soon the entity of ‘Hoard’ … vomited out of me.”
Carmoon previously directed the shorts “Nosebleed” (2018) and “Shagbands” (2020). The “Hoard” cast includes Saura Lightfoot Leon, Joseph Quinn, Hayley Squires, Lily-Beau Leach, Deba Hekmat, Samantha Spiro and Cathy Tyson.
“Like my shorts, I did an alchemy of open casting and tapes. I’m neither here nor there for non-actors or actors. I think actors are more sustainable, it’s healthier but what makes an actor some of the best are those who have had to lie to survive, so I have a mixture of first timers and veterans,” Carmoon said. “I just knew Maria would have to be someone who almost was a dancer, a rhythm to get the syntax and absurd, and Saura was Maria through and through. Hailey was always mother.”
The film is produced by Loran Dunn (Delaval Film), Helen Simmons (Erebus Pictures) and Andrew Starke (Anti-Worlds) and executive producers are Eva Yates (BBC Film), Kristin Irving, Mia Bays (BFI) and
Stephanie Aspin (Erebus Pictures).
“The experience of making this film was beautiful, erotic, disgusting and just so much love. I just love people and learning about their lives and getting to know them deeply, so when we got to shooting it was like lightning in a bottle plucking their past and mine to meet and make head. We truly became family,” Carmoon said.
The film will premiere as part of Venice Critics’ Week.
“Having the premiere at Venice is absurd. It’s my favorite festival, the last five years the programming is always my cup of tea. Beatrice Fiorentino [Venice Critics’ Week general delegate] and her team took a chance on us — it’s not a diluted film, it doesn’t belong in the zeitgeist of now. I’m attracted to ugly people, humans who lay grey, nasty and nice and we are losing it in a lot of ways but Venice seems to see the ugly and real and I’ll forever be grateful for them for accepting the entity that is ‘Hoard,'” Carmoon said.
Alpha Violet is handling international sales.
Watch the clip here:
