EXCLUSIVE: Avatar Entertainment has taken foreign sales rights on Charon, Jennifer Zhang’s mobile-shot feature, and will be shopping the pic this week in Cannes.
Shot entirely on an iPhone8 during lockdown, Zhang wrote, produced, directed, and edited the film solo. The pic won Best Feature at the 2021 International Mobile Film Festival.
Charon follows a notorious hacker under house arrest whose boyfriend on the outside begins calling her with odd and dangerous requests. As his on-camera demands become increasingly dark and perverse, Charon’s existence hinges on her ability to unravel the mystery, all while trapped in her apartment.
Eric Radic co-stars in the film via Skype, and Marc Morisseau, who self-quarantined before shooting his role in the apartment, is also in the cast. Korean-American mixer/composer Diana Cha composed the score.
“Shooting in isolation for days and days, I noticed that what I was capturing was really uncomfortable, manic, and a lot of times unflattering — which actually motivated me to keep going because it was so unexpectedly honest,” commented Zhang, “Even though Charon is a strange fiction, I started seeing it as a real-time reflection of how I was struggling, and how a lot of people out there must have been struggling in quarantine. I think that’s why it’s resonating with people: because there’s a relatable emotional truth that runs through it, despite the premise being somewhat bizarre.”
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Zhang is managed by Larry Robinson at Los Angeles and London-based management and production company Avatar Entertainment.