The year 2020 has seen a rise in what can be described as a witch hunt. This term, historically associated with the persecution of individuals for perceived witchcraft, is now being used metaphorically to describe the targeting and vilification of individuals or groups. In the context of 2020, this witch hunt has taken different forms, from cancel culture to conspiracy theories. **Cancel culture**, which refers to the practice of boycotting or calling out individuals who are deemed to have expressed or acted in a way that is considered offensive or harmful, has gained significant traction in recent years. In 2020, cancel culture has reached new heights, as numerous public figures have been subjected to intense criticism, public shaming, and even loss of employment due to their past actions or statements. While there is value in holding people accountable for their actions, the witch hunt-like mentality behind cancel culture can be detrimentally polarizing and prevent opportunities for growth and learning.
Carmen Winant, The neighbor, the friend, the lover, (2020). Courtesy the artist and Stene Projects, Stockholm.
While the trials in Salem have been widely documented and recreated in popular culture for generations, the incidents of indigenous violence in the Nordic countries have been largely left out of the narrative. As Hollywood crawls toward some version of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic, we at Variety have been curious about how the day-to-day work of film and television production would resume.
While there is value in holding people accountable for their actions, the witch hunt-like mentality behind cancel culture can be detrimentally polarizing and prevent opportunities for growth and learning. Another form of **witch hunt** in 2020 is the proliferation of conspiracy theories. With the rise of social media and the spread of misinformation, individuals and groups have become targets of unfounded accusations or conspiracy theories.
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Witch Hunt Trailer — Elle Callahan‘s Witch Hunt (2021) movie trailer has been released by Momentum Pictures. The Witch Hunt trailer stars Gideon Adlon, Elizabeth Mitchell, Abigail Cowen, Nicholas Crovetti, Cameron Crovetti, and Christian Camargo. Crew Elle Callahan wrote the screenplay for Witch Hunt. Blitz//Berlin created the music for the film. Nico Aguilar and Tommy [. ]
Continue reading: Witch Hunt (2021) Movie Trailer: Federal Authorities hunt & force Witches to Seek Asylum in Mexico.
- 9/12/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
— — FilmBookCast is the official podcast of FilmBook. FilmBookCast is an entertainment news podcast on the latest movie and television show news. Each week, FilmBook contributor Chris Banks discusses that breaking Hollywood news. In FilmBookCast Ep. 152, Chris looks at movie previews including: Witch Hunt, The Matrix Resurrections and South [. ]
Continue reading: FilmBookCast Ep. 152 – Shang-chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021).
- 9/11/2021
- by Chris Banks
- Film-Book
Up next from Head Count director Elle Callahan comes the new horror movie Witch Hunt, coming to theaters, Digital and On Demand October 1 via Momentum Pictures. In the film, “In a modern America where magic is real and witches are persecuted by US authorities, teenager Claire and her family are part of an intricate network that helps these women escape across […].
- 9/10/2021
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Powered by its famed partners, Oslo-based Motion Blur, one of Norway’s top producers of commercials, features and TV shows, has never been that busy with projects both on home turf and in the U.S.
That activity in part rolls off the pulling power of the company’s pedigreed partners: “Karate Kid” helmer Harald Zwart; “Kon-Tiki” and “Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Men Tell No Tales” co-helmer Espen Sandberg: and producer Espen Horn.
Minority shareholder Sf Studios lends Motion Blur adds financial stability. The genre-bending outfit also boasts a unique bond with Netflix that has translated into three Norwegian-language orders over the past year-and-a -half from the U.S. giant.
Helmed by rising talent Jarand Herdal, chiller “Cadaver,” Netflix’s first Norwegian feature, premiered last October. Motion Blur’s vampire comedy show “Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes” is launching on the giant streamer on Aug. 25. A third Netflix title.
- 8/22/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Set in a modern America, Witch Hunt tells the story of two young witches in a world where witchcraft is illegal and punishable by death. These two young witches are helped by a woman who is trying to aid them over the southern border to asylum in Mexico. They are soon met with many obstacles including the daughter of the family who must decide which side she is on.
Despite a new The Craft movie and a new Witches movie coming out in the last year, witchcraft in film hasn’t exactly had a resurgence. It’s a sub genre of horror that, despite some popularity, has never completely took off and been over popularised with films. Because of this.
- 7/9/2021
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
Written by Heldens, inspired by a UK reality format, The Big Leap is an innovative show-within-a-show that takes viewers on a journey of self-acceptance, body-positivity and empowerment at any age. It’s described as a modern tale about second chances, chasing your dreams and taking back what’s yours. The show revolves around a group of diverse, down-on-their-luck characters attempting to change their lives by participating in a potentially life-ruining reality dance show that builds to a live production of Swan Lake.
Barlow will play Brittney Lovewell, a born-and-bred, hyper-competitive ballroom dancer who auditions in the show within the show with her twin brother.
Winer directed the pilot for The Big Leap.
- 5/15/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Within the DNA for Defiant Studios, the production banner behind Terry Crews’ 2020 hit “John Henry” and last month’s “Phobias,” are two companies: You’ve definitely heard of the scrappy, microbudget mentality that has made Blumhouse Productions a juggernaut. But you may have forgotten about Insurge, a one-time division of Paramount born with the mission to incubate young, first-time filmmakers. Defiant Studios producer Eric B. Fleischman is a veteran of both companies, and he and partner Maurice Fadida have quietly found success by embracing a model that is built around small-budget genre films from emerging talent and slate financing that mitigates risk and allows for taking more chances on talent. That approach is already paying off since Defiant was the only studio with two movies that premiered at last month’s SXSW: Elle Callahan’s “Witch Hunt” and Mickey Keating’s “Offseason,” which sold to Rlje Films and Shudder just this week.
- 4/16/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to check out an array of projects from three different female filmmakers who were part of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, including Here Before, which was written and directed by Stacey Gregg, Kier-La Janisse’s folk horror doc Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, as well as Witch Hunt from writer/director Elle Callahan.
Read on to see what I thought of this trio of films out of this year’s SXSW, and be sure to keep an eye out for more on these projects in the near future as well.
Here Before: With her feature film debut, Irish writer/director Stacey Gregg makes quite a statement with Here Before, a psychological thriller that also happens to be a thoughtful cinematic meditation on grief and motherhood. Featuring yet another all-timer performance from Andrea Riseborough, Here Before was easily the most surprising film I saw during this year’s SXSW.
- 3/30/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Continue reading: Film Review: Witch Hunt: A Messy Brew of Allegories That Creates a Noxious Co-Opting Potion [SXSW 2021].
- 3/19/2021
- by Jacob Mouradian
- Film-Book
Yesterday, writer/director Elle Callahan celebrated the world premiere of her latest film, Witch Hunt, which screened as part of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. Starring Gideon Adlon, Abigail Cowen, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Echo Campbell, Witch Hunt introduces us to a world where witchcraft has been outlawed by the U.S. government, and anyone who is suspected of being a witch is rounded up and exterminated with prejudice, and the only place that witches can find asylum from these barbaric laws is in Mexico.
In advance of Witch Hunt’s world premiere at this year’s SXSW, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with Callahan as well as Adlon, Cowen, and Mitchell, and they discussed the intersection between fantasy and reality in Witch Hunt, their experiences collaborating together on the film, and more.
I would love to start with you, Elle, if that's cool, and have you dive into the story we see in the film.
- 3/18/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Witch Hunt, 2021. Written and directed by Elle Callahan. Starring Gideon Adlon, Elizabeth Mitchell, Abigail Cowen, Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti, and Christian Camargo. Synopsis: In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and […]
The post 2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Witch Hunt appeared first on Flickering Myth.
- 3/18/2021
- by Shaun Munro
- Flickeringmyth
Striking a middle ground between teen fantasy “The Craft” and deadly serious political allegory “The Handmaid’s Tale” is “Witch Hunt,” writer-director Elle Callahan’s second feature. Her first, the 2019 “Head Count,” was a strikingly assured supernatural mind-bender, albeit one a little too understated for some genre fans. By contrast, this sophomore effort is comparatively conventional and straightforward in depicting paranormal themes, even given the added fillip of overt current-events commentary. It’s a more uneven work nonetheless, with some odd storytelling missteps and signs of budgetary constriction. Still, the fanciful tale of minority persecution in a U.S. not so different from our offscreen reality should easily attract acquisition interest around its SXSW premiere.
A grim prologue shows a manacled woman burned at a present-day New England stake in front of her two redheaded daughters. We then jump ahead three months to meet SoCal high schooler Claire (Gideon Adlon), whose.
- 3/18/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
The ten-episode series is co-directed by Stian Kristiansen and Uri Barbash, and stars Andrea Berntzen, Anneke von der Lippe, Anders T Andersen and Shadi Mar’i. A new ten-part thriller series, entitled Abducted, is set to premiere on TV2 Norway and TV2 Sumo on 11 April. The project, co-directed by Stian Kristiansen (the TV series Witch Hunt and Home Ground) and Uri Barbash (Kapo in Jerusalem), is based on a script penned by Kyrre Holm Johannessen and Ronit Weiss-Berkowitz. Abducted’s lead actors are Andrea Berntzen (U – July 22), Anneke von der Lippe, Anders T Andersen and Shadi Mar’i. The story begins when a young Norwegian girl called Pia gets kidnapped in the Sinai desert with two Israelis. Her parents, Alex and Karl, are first deeply confused, and then shocked, as they.
- 3/9/2021
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Exclusive: Norwegian filmmaker Eva Sorhaug (90 Minutes) has been set to direct feature thriller Edge Of Normal, based on the novel by Carla Norton.
XYZ Films (Mandy) is set to produce alongside Industry Entertainment (Messiah), with XYZ also handling world sales. The film will be produced in association with Bold Films (Whiplash), which made a splash this week with Netflix acquisition The Guilty. The book has been adapted by Matt Venne and Lori Evans Taylor.
The film follows a woman named Reeve LeClaire who has managed to piece together a normal life as an adult, but remains haunted by memories of being held captive by a sadistic man in her teens. When her psychiatrist asks Reeve to mentor another young survivor, she finds herself in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a more powerful force.
Sorhaug’s 2012 feature drama 90 Minutes debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Her TV credits as director include Netflix series Occupied.
- 9/25/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
IFC Films is getting into the holiday spirit a little early as it has acquired the North American rights to documentary Dear Santa directed by Dana Nachman. The family-friendly Christmas feature docu takes a look at Operation Santa, a 100-year-old program of the United States Postal Service which connects children with Kris Kringle himself. Dear Santa will kick off the holiday season with its December 4 release date.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa arrive at Post Offices around the country. Through Operation Santa, the Usps makes it possible for the public to safely adopt these letters and make children’s dreams come true. In 2019, Nachman received unprecedented access to the beloved program to make the docu. From big metropolitan cities to small towns, the film takes audiences on a magical journey as it spotlights various Operation Santa Centers all across the country.
- 9/15/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
As Hollywood crawls toward some version of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic, we at Variety have been curious about how the day-to-day work of film and television production would resume. After an invitation from two indie film producers — Maurice Fadida and Eric B. Fleischman — to visit the set of “The Knocking,” I was able to observe the meticulous new protocols in action.
It’s a slog, the business of keeping people protected in a highly tactile and collaborative environment, especially for independent filmmakers. The producers estimated that safety measures cost as much as 10% of their production budget, and resulted in additional shooting days. Talent and artisans are also increasingly isolated, they told me, as the busy life of the film set has been replaced by video conferences and solitary meals in cars. Craft services is no longer a delicious group hang, but a single-serve food and drinks. The makeup trailer.
- 9/10/2020
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
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That activity in part rolls off the pulling power of the company’s pedigreed partners: “Karate Kid” helmer Harald Zwart; “Kon-Tiki” and “Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Men Tell No Tales” co-helmer Espen Sandberg: and producer Espen Horn.
These conspiracy theories often spread fear, mistrust, and division, as they claim that powerful individuals or institutions are engaged in secret plots or cover-ups. These unsubstantiated claims have led to real-world consequences, such as threats, harassment, and the erosion of public trust in science and established institutions. It is crucial to recognize and address the dangers of this modern-day witch hunt. While accountability and questioning are necessary tools for progress, it is essential to strike a balance and approach these issues with critical thinking, empathy, and a commitment to truth. By fostering open dialogue, promoting education, and actively engaging in fact-checking, we can work towards a more inclusive and informed society, free from the divisive narratives and scapegoating that characterizes a witch hunt..
Reviews for "The Cultural and Social Factors Behind the Witch Hunts of 2020"
1. John - 1 star - I found "Track the witch hunt happening in 2020" to be a complete waste of time. It was nothing more than a collection of baseless conspiracies and unfounded claims. The so-called evidence provided was weak and easily debunked. It's a shame that people are so easily swayed by this kind of misinformation. I would not recommend this track to anyone who values rational thinking and critical analysis.
2. Sarah - 2 stars - I was initially intrigued by the concept of "Track the witch hunt happening in 2020," but I was ultimately disappointed with the execution. The track simply regurgitated the same talking points and biased opinions I had already heard elsewhere. It lacked any original research or thoughtful analysis. If you're looking for an unbiased and informative exploration of the subject, this is not the track for you. Save your time and seek out more reputable sources.
3. Mark - 1 star - "Track the witch hunt happening in 2020" is nothing more than a platform for spreading baseless conspiracy theories. The track presents a one-sided and biased perspective without providing any credible evidence to support its claims. Furthermore, it completely disregards the overwhelming consensus of experts and factual information available on the subject. It's disappointing to see a track like this gain traction, as it only serves to perpetuate misinformation and division. Steer clear if you're looking for a well-reasoned and fact-based analysis.