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Your upcoming movie Aftermath - in a few words, what's it going to
be about?
József Gallai: Aftermath
is centered around a young woman named Kate who wakes up in a
foggy forest with no memories, bruises and wounds on her body and without
any idea how she got there, but soon becomes the target of masked
soldiers. She is forced to race against time if she wants to get out
alive.
Only in 2020 you've made a short also called Aftermath
- so are that movie and your current feature related in any way, and
if so, what inspired you to extend it into a feature? Gergö Elekes:
When we shot the short back in 2020, we agreed almost immediately after we
finished the film that if we would have the budget in the future for a
feature version, we would definitely go for it. This world had so much
potential, it would have been a shame to let it go. We called back
basically each and every cast and crewmember from the short film but
still we cannot say that the 2023 feature version is the same as the short
only longer. József created a completely new story with new characters,
new locations and more sci-fi elements than in the short. In 2020 the male
character was the protagonist, this time we flipped the whole thing and
made the female character the center of the events. You can expect more
mystery, more action and more drama. With Aftermath
being a post-apocalyptic movie of sorts,
is that a genre at all dear to you, and some of your genre
favourites? GE: For me yes, because it puts the characters in uncharted territories and
such situations where they have never been before so you don’t know
exactly what their next move will be. In addition to that you can mix the
elements of several genres in a post-apocalyptic setting, so in one scene
you can shoot an action sequence while in another one you can tell a
tragic story of a character. All in all the post-apocalyptic genre can
evoke several emotions in the audience, and that’s what I like to do in
our films. (Other) sources of inspiration when
writing Aftermath?
JG: Of course I had the short film in mind as a starting point, but as
Gergö
mentioned, I intended to expand the universe, work with more characters
and in the end, from six characters in the short film, the number went up
to over twenty-five. If I had to name any inspiration, I would mention Starfish,
directed by an almost completely unknown British writer-director, A.T.
White. His movie tells an incredibly beautiful, almost lyrical story of an
empty, desolate world into which its protagonist is forced, one I had
never seen before. I tried to achieve something similar with my story.
József, you've written the script for Aftermath
together with Derek C. Block - so what can you tell us about him,
and what was your collaboration like?
JG: Derek first joined as a producer, but then he mentioned to me that he had
written a few scripts and if there was a way he would work with me in that
way, and I said why not. He mainly helped me at the end of the story and
had some very good ideas and insights. I look forward to working with him
again.
What can you tell us about your directorial approach to your
story at hand? And do talk about your collaboration with one another on Aftermath?
GE: With Aftermath we wanted to create a film that is not just mysterious but
also thought-provoking and emotional. We always try to create an
atmosphere that immediately grabs the attention of the audience. That’s
why we start working on a project like this almost a year before shooting
to find the best locations, the best possible cast and crew and camera
gear. And we try to share the work between us: József is the soul of the
film being the screenwriter, producer and co-director while I try to
master the best possible way of capturing a scene or composing the perfect
music for a situation.
Aftermath isn't the first time you've worked together
on a movie - so what can you tell us about your previous
collaborations, and how did the two of you first meet even?
GE:
I‘ve been working together with József for a decade now on several
projects. You can’t do that if you don’t like somebody. I think I can
say we share the same dreams in terms of filmmaking, have the same sense
of humor and concept of storytelling. We met at the University of Pannonia
in Veszprém, Hungary back in 2009, of course during a film premiere of József’s
work. I am very proud of every motion picture we made since then and
looking forward to seeing what the future holds for us.
Back to Aftermath
- do talk about your key
cast, and why exactly these people?
JG: Once the second wave of the pandemic in Hungary subsided, we met Fruzsina
Nagy who was the lead actress in the short and talked about the
possibility of a feature-length film. Suffice it to say that she would
have filmed the next day if there had been an opportunity to do it. She
was very happy and on top of that she suggested Edward Apeagyei for the
role of Bubba, who agreed to take the part a few hours after I sent the
script. It was amazing to see the chemistry between them. Péter Inoka was
given a completely different role from the short film and we brought back
the guys who played the soldiers (László Némethy, Zoltán Eőry, Péter
József Szabó) along with Dániel Vince and our longtime collaborator and
friend Bálint Szántó. I myself had wanted to work with Sally Kirkland
for a long time, and we were able to come to an agreement very quickly and
were very happy to have the opportunity to work with Eric Roberts once
more. And seeing James Duval in our film was a dream come true for me.
After Project Skyquake, it was great to see Simon Bamford and Shawn
Michael Clankie on board again, but we also had the very talented Karolina
Szabó making her feature film debut, not to mention that my daughter Zsófia
has a small role in the movie too. However, the film couldn't have been
made without the support and trust of executive producer Roy McClurg (McClurg
Productions), co-executive producers Kevin Nguyen and Malachy
Fergus Godfrey as well as producers Chuck Harding and Reginald Welkin.
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A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere?
GE: I think I’m not exaggerating when I say it was the most challenging film
shoot we have ever had. We worked in difficult weather situations, in
cold, abandoned places, beautiful dark forests and shot the film in 11
days between November 2022 and March 2023. Even in these harsh conditions
we had the time to laugh a lot, work with fantastic people and make
lifelong friendships. I will never forget this experience.
Any idea when and where Aftermath
will be
released yet?
GE: The film is currently in the post production process, our fantastic
friends Kaizad Patel and Firoze Patel are currently working on the sfx and
5.1 mixing of the film. If all goes well, Aftermath will be ready this
month and we will try to find a distributor soon so the audience can
expect a release date around this fall. Until then you can bump into our
film at festivals as we are planning to send it as much as we can.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
JG: My next film A
Stranger in the Woods with
horror legends Bill Oberst jr [Bill
Oberst jr interview - click here] and Lynn Lowry is currently in
pre-production and marks the fourth time I will work with Laura Ellen
Wilson. We're talking about a film set practically in one location, with
very few characters, but with a heavy dose of mystery and a suffocating
atmosphere. Its campaign is live
(https://gogetfunding.com/a-stranger-in-the-woods-horror-movie-starring-bill-oberst-jr/),
the film is scheduled to start shooting in October and, with any luck,
will be released by early next year.
Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?
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GE: For the latest news you can follow our film on Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/aftermathfeaturefilm)
and on Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/aftermath.movie/).
If somebody is interested in my music portfolio, they can check my website
(https://www.gergoelekes.com/),
follow me on Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/MusicByGergoElekes)
and
Twitter (@elgergo) or find me on every major music streaming platforms
such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc.
Thanks for the interview!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Aftermath at adultvideouniverse.com
