Courtesy of MUBI
Murmur, the new horror movie from indie filmmaker Mark Polish, will have its world premiere at the Oldenburg Film Festival, the fall event known as “Germany’s Sundance.”
Polish is best known as one half, with brother Michael, of the writing/directing team The Polish brothers, whose credits include Sundance hit Twin Falls, Idaho (1999), Jackpot (2001), The Astronaut Farmer (2006) and The Smell of Success. Michael Polish has typically taken over directing duties on Polish brothers films, with Mark playing a lead role and both siblings sharing screenwriting credits.
Mark Polish first stepped behind the camera for Headlock (2019), his feature debut starring Andy Garcia, Dianna Agron and James Frain.
Murmur, which he wrote and directed, follows a group of social media stars who become guinea pigs for a new app that breaks down the boundaries between reality and fantasy. Polish’s daughter Logan Polish, of Apple TV+’s The Mosquito Coast, stars in the feature.
Oldenburg on Wednesday unveiled the first titles for its 2022 lineup. Alongside Murmur, other world premieres this year include Irish drama The Black Guelph from director John Connors, billed as the first film told from the perspective of the Irish Travellers ethnic group, of which Connors is a member, and Japanese feature The City from first-time director Katsuki Kuroyanagi.
Several German-language features, including the dystopian drama Junk Space Berlin from director Juri Padel, Nikias Chryssos’ crime drama Leben Tod Ekstase, Stefan Krohmer’s Die Rache an der Welt and Manchurian Candidate-style thriller Subject 101 from debut director Tom Bewilogua, will also have their world premieres in Oldenburg.
Park Chan-wook’s Korean thriller Decision to Leave, which won best director honors in Cannes, will have its German premiere in Oldenburg, as will Zoo Lockdown from Austria’s Andreas Horvath (Lilian) and Way Out Ahead of Us, a family drama from American director Rob Rice, which premiered at the FIDMarseille International Film Festival last month.
Oldenburg will unveil its full lineup later this month. The 29th Oldenburg Film Festival runs Sept. 14-18.