Director Ana Lily Amirpour has quickly run up the ranks and established herself as a unique genre filmmaker with indie sensibilities. Her black and white critically acclaimed debut, “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night,” was self-described as the first “Iranian Vampire Spaghetti Western” and the “Bad Batch” explored cannibals in a post-apocalyptic American desert. Each one of her films proves almost weirder than the next. She’s unveiling her next film to buyers at Cannes this week, and it’s called “Blood Moon.”
READ MORE: Ana Lily Amirpour Explains How She Landed Keanu Reeves & Jim Carrey For ‘The Bad Batch’
“Blood Moon” will hit the Cannes market among various other titles vying for international distribution. According to Deadline, “Blood Moon,” is a mind-bending adventure set in the humid, neon-lit streets of New Orleans. Inspired by adventure films of the 1980s and ’90s, “Blood Moon” follows a young girl with special abilities. After escaping from an asylum, she enters back into the chaotic reality around her, making unexpected allies along the way.
While her last film, “The Bad Batch,” was met with backlash in 2016 (charges of racism), and she was chased off social media for some problematic behavior at a Q&A, it appears the director has weathered the storm.
John Lesher, the producer behind the Oscar-winning “Birdman,” is one of the notables shepherding the “Blood Moon,” and perhaps he’ll help guide it to a bigger audience. Setting is crucial for Amirpour; the haunting streets of bombed-out Iran in ‘Girl’ and the desolate landscape of “The Bad Batch” set the tone for both unique films. She’s spoken about New Orleans in a manner that suggests that once again location will act as its own character in the narrative. We’re also catching “Firestarter” vibes from the logline, but perhaps with less of a horror vibe. Time will tell, but hopefully, this is something we’ll see arrive on the festival circuit in 2019.