Annalise Lockhart reflects on some interesting concepts at the heart of her rural short INHERITANCE, in which a black family are haunted in their house by white ghosts.
Film And TV Now spoke with the film-maker about the short.
FILM AND TV NOW: At the heart of this short is the context of science and supernatural elements. How much of a believer are you in the spiritual world?
ANNALISE LOCKHART: Oh this is a great question. I was a really scared kid – I was super afraid of the dark. It was never literal ghosts, but it was the idea that they could be real that scared me. These days, I definitely believe in spiritual energies, but more their power for good. You can listen to places and hear what you need to hear.
FTVN: You are also influenced by Afro-Futurist beliefs. What are the key elements that affect and stimulate your perspective on life itself?
AL: I believe that science fiction, as a genre, strives to answer questions and find solutions to “modern life.” The question that I think many Afro-Futurist artworks are charged with is, how can we formulate ideas around freedom, prosperity, salvation in a manner that de-prioritizes the predominant Western ideas of what the future looks like?
How can we move past our trauma, while also acknowledging its role in who we are today? Questions that will never be fully answered, and shouldn’t be, but the work is in creating art that addresses them.
FTVN: Tell us about your cast.
AL: I was so lucky to have found this cast. I found Victoria and Ron through online postings. I met DeLeon through Mary Glen Fredrick (Norra’s co-worker in the film). During the casting process, I was looking for strong, sensitive people to embody these roles, who also had a sense of humour. This family spends a lot of time together – they had better get along and like each other!
FTVN: Tell us about your production team.
AL: The crew was made up of a lot of friends who I had worked with in the past when I was a First AD. Charlotte Hornsby (DP) is an incredible collaborator and friend, as is April Lasky (Production Designer).
We took multiple trips up to the cabin together to really live in the space and figure out how best to capture it and make adjusts for this family. It was such a privilege to have that time to be slow and methodical during the prep process.
FTVN: There are some interesting visual effects on show. Tell us about your FX team.
AL: Michael Barnett did the VFX for the film – he was incredible to work with. One man band! We wanted the effects to blend into the world as much as possible.
The world of the film is very analog and natural – the effects needed to be as well. I think it also helped that we tried to build the framework for most of the effects practically – make-up on the ghosts, haze in the woods – and we added to that.
FTVN: Where did you shoot and for how long?
AL: We shot in Shrewsbury, Vermont for 5 days. One of my favourite locations to film hands down. Such a welcoming, supportive town.
FTVN: How did you raise finance for the short?
AL: It’s hard to get funding for short films, so financing came through a mixture of private equity and personal funds.
FTVN: Would you like to expand this short into a feature idea?
AL: Right now I have no plans to expand this short into a feature, but I am not opposed! I like where the story ends here, so to move to feature length I would be expanding the world quite a bit. Which could be fun and rewarding! We’ll see.
FTVN: Diversity and gender are big issues in the entertainment world. What are your immediate hopes for the future?
AL: True, true. I have loved seeing the changes in front of and behind the camera. I feel like bigger studios are starting to see that diverse casts are profitable, and there’s really a market for it.
On a more personal level, I have drawn so much of my understanding of the world around me from movies and TV shows, and I definitely have noticed some of the harmful effects of the white male dominated narratives that permeate most of pop culture. I would love to see a permanent change so the next generation doesn’t have to deal with so much of a bias in entertainment.
FTVN: How has the festival circuit helped your work in the past few months?
AL: The festival circuit, as well as the response the film has been getting, has definitely bolstered my efforts to make more work. It has also been inspiring seeing so many amazing shorts at festivals. It gives me hope for what’s to come next year and beyond!
FTVN: What issues and themes would you like to explore in future work?
AL: I’m interested in exploring themes around physical resilience as it relates to the mind body connection – a bit of a mouthful. Women’s body sovereignty is important to me as well – I am sure that will figure into my work somehow moving forward.
FTVN: How has the global situation affected your development and evolution as a film-maker?
AL: This past year and a half made me reorient my priorities as an artist, I think ultimately in a positive way. I was not super productive during quarantine – I’m happy for people that were! – but I did have a lot of time to contemplate. We all did.
I’m starting to see the results of spending that time with myself in the art I’ve started making now. It feels more personal and more urgent.
FTVN: Finally, what are you most proud of about this short?
AL: I’m proud of many aspects of the short, but what comes to mind in this moment is what I feel to be authenticity of the connection between the family members. In order to believe that their home is worth fighting for, instead of just giving in and running away from the ghosts, they need to convince the audience that their connection to the house and each other is worth it.
I feel that the cast really accomplished that, which makes me tremendously proud. They feel so warm together every time I watch it. So grateful to have gotten to work with Victoria, Ron and DeLeon, I’m sure we’ll do something again in the future.
