A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (2013) A film directed and written by Ben Rivers and Ben Russell. Colour, Sound, 95 mins. Produced by Rouge International.

Filmed between Norway, Estonia and Finland, A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness is the new experimental film born from the collaboration between artist filmmakers BEN RIVERS and BEN RUSSELL. The film was shot as triptych around the themes of “COMMUNE, SOLITUDE and BLACK METAL”, as Ben Russell says. Winding from a shaman-run commune in Estonia, to the wilderness of Finland and Norwegian black metal, the film hunts utopia in the “modern” age.

Artist-musician Robert AA Lowe features as the main character in this non-narrative film, eventually joining Hunter Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy, Nicholas McMaster of Krallice, and Weasal Walter of the Flying Luttenbachers as the frontman of a Black Metal band.

A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness takes on the exploration of the human desire for truth and the search for meaning and belonging. It follows on from Rivers’ previous works exploring alternative lifestyles in the present day, with notable works including his debut feature Two Years at Sea (2011), a documentary portrait of the recluse Jake Williams, a man living off-grid in northern Scotland.

The film was awarded the NEW:VISION award at last week’s CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. BEN RIVERS and BEN RUSSELL had previously collaborated in 2009 during the creation of a film program entitled We Cannot Exist In This World Alone, which presented the inter-relations between their film works.

Text by Sophie Pinchetti