by James Fletcher
One such filmmaker embracing the format is Dr. Donna McRae, whose latest chapter in her ‘Ghost of Memory’ series, DAWN, is currently prepping for production. As with the film’s predecessors, the multi-award-winning Johnny Ghost (2012) and Lost Gully Road (2017), Dawn is billed as a micro-budget feature, to be shot locally in Melbourne utilising Australian crew and on-screen talent.
Pitched as a supernatural thriller, Dawn chronicles the traumatic emergence of repressed memories experienced by a neurotic spinster forced to make amends for a past incident in order to rid herself of a childhood ghost.
While promising to deliver the chills, Dawn at its core will be a missive about aging, underscored by a longing to find comfort in our own homes. If the poster by Simon Sherry is anything to go by, we are in all the way.
McRae promises a fun, but chilling experience, and “something that we don’t get to see very often”, while Dawn herself, is poised to be a larger-than-life character, reminiscent of the great psycho-biddy characters of the 1970s.
In fact, this crowd funding opportunity could be your chance to help create a new Australian icon, with Dawn possibly taking her place alongside the likes of The Babadook, Muriel Heslop or Bad Boy Bubby.
Launching on Pozible.com, McRae is seeking a modest $25,000 with MATCH Lab committed to matching funds raised during the campaign. And for those in Melbourne, or willing to travel, some of the rewards available include an opportunity to appear as an extra on the film, take a credit as associate or executive producer, or be part of the film’s test audience with a chance to offer legitimate feedback.
Those with less desire to be front and centre on a film production can also walk away with some cool memorabilia, original drawings from acclaimed artist Michael Vale, or any number of other supporter awards.
Having proven herself a deft hand and creative force in Australia’s independent filmmaking scene, Donna McRae has earned her place as a maverick in the Australian Female Gothic movement, embracing genre films made about women by women, from a specific place, both physically and metaphorically: the dark heart of colonisation that lies beneath contemporary Australian culture.
Those wishing to support the crowd funding campaign for DAWN can visit https://www.pozible.com/project/dawn
