Basilisk (2013) 31 min   Durham, NC

Director: Jay O’Berski

Producer/Cinematograher/Editor: Nick Karner

With: John Jimerson, Ann Millett-Gallant, Lamont Reed,

Lormarev C. Jones, P.J. Maske

IMDB SYNOPSIS:  Gaza picks up Wes at a bar and takes him to her place. When they become lovers it looks like they've found their perfect match. Then Wes is blindsided by the truth about Gaza. BASILISK is an erotic drama featuring a disabled woman who is sexually empowered and unrepentant. This short film is a one-of-a-kind; depicting a way of being that no other story has explored.

 

    A fascinating film.  Jay encountered Ann, a woman with no hands or feet, many years ago at a bar. Later, he found out that she had gone home with a friend of his. For years, he’d been toying with the idea of doing a film that he described as Ann’s “Erotic Adventures.”  We wanted to work together so this was our summer film project.  We were considering using CGI for Ann’s role, but Jay was able to find her and play a fictionalized version of herself.  John Jimerson, with whom I’d worked in Foodie, was cast as her lover. 

     This movie held a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I’d shot nude scenes or sex scenes. I’d been involved with nude scenes in Daniel McCabe’s films, but this was the first time I shot one myself.  It was also the first time I shot on DSLR.  I used the Canon 7D.  The movie ended up being very episodic, probably because we weren’t using a script and only a basic through-line.  It was a great experience for me and Jay allowed me the freedom to create some really amazing images.  It’s probably why a lot of footage on my demo reel is from Basilisk. 

     We shot all over Durham. For a nightclub scene, we shot at Motorco, but for the exterior, we shot in the back of a Bruegger’s Bagel shop with a fiery “Inferno” mock sign. A few people actually thought it was the entrance to a real nightclub.  The cast was massive. We had dozens of extras in many scenes including a full audience theatre scene which was later cut and a gay bar dance scene which led to an epic confrontation between Ann, her friend, and the bar owner.  The movie was screened at the Cape Fear Film Festival and we received the Festival Director’s Award.