EXCLUSIVE: Alief, the U.K/France-based film company, has signed onto world sales for psychological horror feature , which will have its world premiere this weekend at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Following his debut Hippo, Mark H. Rapaport’s second feature stars Al Warren (The Drama), Sarah Coffey (Queens Of The Dead), Kimball Farley (The Righteous Gemstones) and Luke Speakman (Weapons).
Pic tells the story of “strange twins who proclaim themselves prophets to a priest, blurring reality and delusion as they involve him in their supposed divine mission”.
The official synopsis reads: “When a baby is left on the steps of his church, a reclusive country priest (Al Warren) takes the child in to raise as his own. The boy (Luke Speakman) is taught that the outside world is too dangerous, and so he grows up in secret, confined mostly to his padlocked bedroom. One afternoon, the church is visited by a pair of strange twins in matching white tracksuits, who call themselves simply ‘Firstborn’ (Sarah Coffey) and ‘Secondborn’ (Kimball Farley). Reluctant to partake in the twins’ alleged divine mission, but also careful not to expose his own secrets, the priest finds himself caught in a twisted cat-and-mouse game.”
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Rapaport, whose company Kinematics produced the recent Sundance Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize winner Josephine, makes his sophomore outing as a feature writer-director.
Producers are Julian Lawitschka (Halloween Ends) for Free & Clear Pictures; Kale Murphy (The Righteous Gemstones) and Kari Iverson (Suburban Psycho) for 19 Pictures; and Mark H. Rapaport, Jordan Rapaport, and Emanuel Nuñez for Kinematics (Josephine). Executive producers are Jewerl Ross of Silent R Management, and Gus Corwin of Forum.
“We are thrilled to represent world sales rights of Mark H Rapaport’s auteur filmography. We have been following his twisted work since his debut short premiered at Fantasia in 2021,” said alief partner Miguel Govea.
“It’s exciting to bring alief on board Godhead,” said writer/director Rapaport. “This movie puts a magnifying glass to the concepts of innocence and holiness, questioning the very nature of God itself. alief is the ideal partner to help us reach our audience, and Fantasia’s transgressive programming makes it the best place on the planet to do so. I’m so blessed that this will be my third film in a row to have its world premiere in Montreal.”
“It was an easy decision to work with Mark and his experienced team on Godhead,” added Govea. “At alief, we work with filmmakers telling impactful stories with flair, and help bring them to the forefront. Godhead is a genre-bending story of people struggling to find a connection with a higher power, and nothing brings people together like the communal experience of seeing it on the big screen.”
