Titled A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, it’s the first feature-film collaboration between celebrated artist/filmmakers Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea) and Ben Russell (Let Each One Go Where He May), which follows a nameless protagonist (played by musician Robert AA Lowe) as he explores 3 very different existential options: as a member of a commune on a small Estonian island; living alone in the wilds of northern Finland; and fronting a neo-pagan black metal band in Norway – all in a quest for utopia – truth, self-awareness, and spiritual connectedness.
A staple in the art and music community of Chicago, Robert A.A. Lowe joined up with the 90 Day Men in 1997, formed Dreamweapon with members of Town and Country, and started creating solo work under the moniker Lichens, in the 2000s, recording solo and with several collaborators.
Directors Rivers and Russell have created a bewitching cinematic experiences, helped by Robert AA Lowe’s affecting, and even entrancing performance as the film’s mythic figure.
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness will screen at the 2014 New Directors/New Films festival, a co-presentation of Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art.
Watch the trance-inducing trailer below:
