If the buzz out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival is any indication, the career of Victorian-based filmmaker Natalie Erika James is definitely one to watch.

Her feature debut Relic was the breakout hit of Sundance, premiering in the Midnight program to rave reviews, with Screen Daily lauding it as “an accomplished genre debut” and The Hollywood Reporter calling it “an assured first feature”.

Penned by James with Victorian writer Christian White (Clickbait), the film was inspired by her experience with a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Starring the UK’s Emily Mortimer alongside Melbourne-born actors Bella Heathcote and Robyn Nevin, Relic is a psychological horror about three generations of women – daughter, mother and grandmother – who are haunted by a manifestation of aged dementia that is taking over their family home.

James was ecstatic with the reaction to the film: “It was a dream come true to be able to premiere Relic at Sundance 2020. I’m incredibly grateful to Film Victoria for not only supporting the project through development and production but also helping us travel over to Park City for the Festival.”

Relic is now SXSW-bound, having been selected to screen in the Midnighters section.

Produced by Melbourne-based Carver Films (Snowtown, Partisan) and Riva Marker and Jake Gyllenhaal of Nine Stories Productions, Relic was shot over six weeks in regional Victoria and locations around Melbourne.

Film Victoria supported the film through its Development and Production Investment funding and Regional Location Assistance Fund.

For more information on Victoria’s locations, production and incentives programs contact:

Joe Brinkmann
Manager, Production Attraction & Support
[email protected]