Blog Posts - ELAN GAMAKER

SATURN recce

22/10/2015

Elan Gamaker is in South Africa along with South African producer Bridget Pickering (Fireworx Media) and Australian producer Mark Overett (New Holland Pictures Two) for a locations and casting recce. The meeting also marks the opening up of the auditions for the children's roles in the film.

Saturn is truly up and running!

Itch Issue 15: HIATUS now open for submissions

2/6/2015

Itch Issue 15: Hiatus
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE 15
Deadline for submissions: Friday 31 July 2015

Hiatus, n.
1. A break or opening in a material structure
2. A gap or interruption in events [1]

“To be honest, these Eskom load sheds are kind of helpful. I’ve become so productive during the blackouts.” – overheard in Johannesburg.

What is the essence of waiting? What is the nature of continuity? In our over-connected lives, the idea of continuity has become paramount. We expect our phone signal to stay up, and our internet connection to keep going. This is why internet companies and network operators promise, above all else, to deliver a service that is unbroken. We also expect the food in our supermarkets to remain fresh, which is why grocery companies are so concerned with the “cold chain”, a continuous network of refrigeration that ensures food is kept fresh and untainted.

But what are the ramifications of this lifestyle without pause, without a break for reflection or even a contemplation of the vulnerability of our technological and person existence. If it gave us a moment to think, would a break be such a bad thing after all?

What does the idea of a hiatus conjure, likewise a pause in the continuity of things either natural or man-made? The hiatus can cause unrest, such as the power vacuum between leaders. It can also cause comfort, such as the remission of a disease or relief from pain. Or perhaps a hiatus can take the form of a rupture, something that breaks the fabric of physical and emotional space.

Let us know what the concept of a hiatus means to you. I look forward to your interpretation in the broadest and most discontinuous way possible…

Best wishes,
Elan Gamaker
Editor

[1] Source: thesaurus.com

'Saturn" goes to Cannes

19/5/2015

On May 20, a summit meeting takes place at the Cannes Film Festival between Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, Film Finances and the NFVF of South Africa.

The meeting will lay out the funding proposals and production planning for Elan Gamaker's "Saturn", a supernatural thriller set in 1980s South Africa. Shooting is planned for early 2016.

Itch Issue 14 opens for submissions

12/1/2015

Itch Issue 14 is now open for submissions! Deadline: 2 March. Send us your best work in any medium! http://t.co/ZTUOBMv9Fg #itch14
— ITCH Magazine (@itchmagazine) January 12, 2015

Elan Gamaker awarded ASCA Finishing Fellowship

11/11/2014

Elan has been awarded the ASCA Finishing Fellowship for his PhD thesis The Wounded World: Realistic Style and the Genre Mask in the Investigation Film.

The selection committee praised the speed with which Elan had completed the first four chapters of his thesis: almost 80,000 words in just under two years.

They felt satisfied that Elan would complete the work in the stipulated time and would continue to offer academic benefit to the department.

The grant offers one year's full academic salary to assist Elan, in his role as research promovendus, to complete his research by September 2015.

Itch Issue 13 launches under my editorship for the first time

3/11/2014

Issue 13 has arrived! View the best in new writing, art and video at http://t.co/OcojIQArZz. See you there. #itch13 pic.twitter.com/mbnLa6PlJG
— ITCH Magazine (@itchmagazine) November 3, 2014

IJspaard heads North

16/10/2014

IJspaard will enjoy its Dutch premiere at the Noordelijk Film Festival in early November 2014.

The 35th version of the festival will host the film's European Premiere on Saturday 8 November in Leeuwarden, the capital city of Friesland.

See you there!

scriptwriter.london

15/9/2014

Residents and businesses of London are now able to have a .london domain name.

I snapped up the chance to get a scriptwriter domain.

I am therefore now reachable via the redirect URL of scriptwriter.london.

Try it.

;-)

Icehorse saddles up in Durban

1/7/2014

Icehorse (Dutch title: IJspaard), the South African-Dutch feature film by Elan Gamaker, produced by Samovar Film in participation with Revolver Amsterdam, will have its World Premiere at the Durban International Film Festival, held in the South African east coast city from 17 to 27 July 2014.

The festival – the country's longest-running and largest – will once again screen around 200 selected films, most of them premiere screenings in the region. In addition to screenings at its key venues, the festival also hosts a wealth of seminars and workshops featuring local and international filmmakers, and provides screenings in township areas where cinema facilities do not exist.

Icehorse is a mystery-drama directed by Gamaker and written by him in collaboration with the cast, which features well-known Dutch performers in largely improvised roles. Juda Goslinga plays Johnny, who wakes up from a recurring nightmare in which he and two friends have some months earlier knocked down a young woman (Juliette van Ardenne) and, instead of going to the police, buried her body. When he begins to see the dead woman walking through the streets of Amsterdam, he attempts to find out what happened, and whether what he sees is a hallucination, a dream or, worse, a memory.

The cast also includes renowned Dutch actors such as Teun Kuilboer, Fockeline Ouwekerk, Waldemar Torenstra and Wimie Wilhelm.

A teaser trailer can be viewed here.

Icehorse Festival Poster Unveiled

25/6/2014

The festival poster (International Version) for Icehorse is unveiled. The design is by Cashpoint, with consultation from Toby Newsome.

We're rather proud of it.