Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, what could possibly possess anybody to willingly board them selves up in a dark box during one of the hottest heat waves in the history of Sydney?

That’s right. 2013. The year of the ‘Angry Summer’! It’s a molten 47 degrees outside and most people are either retreating to the beach or hurrying to air-conditioned shopping centers. But for writer/director Joseph Sims-Dennett and co-writer/producer Josh Zammit, they decided to turn their apartment into a giant oven…

The lure was just far too attractive for the eager duo when it came to chalking up their 2015 sophomore feature ‘Observance’; a micro-budget psychological horror film born out of the pair’s paranoia and frustration to just make something – that primal urge residing deep in many an obsessed filmmaker.

Joseph Sims-Dennett & Josh Zammit Part 1

‘It was like there was some invisible power trying to control us, stopping us from being who we wanted to be’.

The story of ‘Observance’ follows an emotionally fragile private detective whose world starts to crumble as he observes a woman from a derelict building. Check out their creep-tastic trailer complete with lurking shadows and copious helpings of black bile!

Observance Teaser Trailer

Joseph Sims-Dennett & Josh Zammit Part 2

‘We had no money, just favours and an absolute need to make something meaningful to us’.

With no financing involved beyond the filmmaker’s pocket, ‘Observance’ was devised with a minimalist approach, special effects and limited locations.

The contained arena of the apartment also served to emulate the restrictive perspective of the main character’s POV, to throw the audience into the film.

JOSEPH’S TOP TIP FOR DIRECTING:

• Find the distilled core, and focus on that. This is important, so the tone of your film does not become confused.

 ‘For ‘Observance’ it was not having control over your life, feelings of powerlessness and the feelings of paranoia created by that’.

Since its release, ‘Observance’ has made a worldwide splash at a host of international film festivals including the Fantasia International Film Festival & BFI London Film festival, along with distribution via Shoreline Entertainment.

More info:

For the Observance IMDB page: go here.
For the Observance FB page, go here.
For the Observance official website, go here.
For Joseph Sims-Dennett’s IMDB page, go here.
For Josh Zammit’s IMDB page, go here.