Highlighting the dark arts of filmmaking found within New England’s “haunted figurehead state,” Maine, Damnationland is an annual collection of horror short films produced by Eddy Bolz and David Meiklejohn that screens across the country.
“First and foremost, we want people to watch these and say ‘I can do that’ and then go out and make movies,” said Allen Baldwin, producer and filmmaker on Damnationland. “To see that people are making movies in your town is an inspiring thing.”
In its third year, Damnationland has been able to showcase the talents of many young and up-and-coming filmmakers. During this year’s presentation, the screenings were able to bring to the forefront the talents of Ohio University MFA thesis student Ryan “R.J” Wilson, as his short film, Raid of the Vomit-Blood Fiends, was presented in the tour.
“I was stoked because it involved two things I love — Maine and horror films,” Wilson said.
Wilson first heard about this screening tour when his friends, from his undergraduate years at the University of Southern Maine, presented him with the trailer for the first Damnationland. From there, he got the email of Allen Baldwin from a friend and “bugged” him until he included him in the process.
Wilson was able to get into the screening after presenting, and pleasing, Baldwin and Meiklejohn with two horror films he made. Assuming that the process would be similar to film festivals, Wilson said he was surprised to learn that the filmmakers actually created their short films for Damnationland.
“We have a curatorial selection process that's much different than the submission-based process of film festivals,” Meiklejohn said. “It's very loosely organized, and our basic approach is to look at all the filmmaking folks we know who 1) are somehow connected to Maine, and 2) are making compelling work. Once we get a commitment from them, we're really hands-off, giving them support when we can, but basically leaving full creative control to them.”
While the screenings were shown primarily in Maine, Damnationland made its way across the country, including into the Athena Cinema on Oct. 25. It was here that friends of Wilson’s were able to see his short film as well.
“I love the Athena as a theater since they do well with local (and) independent artists, and was so happy that Chris Iacofano set this up and allowed us to do this,” said Wilson.
Meiklejohn believes this process enables audiences to enjoy the filmmaking of his home state.
“The anthology format of the program means that there is a wide range of ideas, visions, and styles of films that all fall within the horror genre,” he said “Our hope is that people get genuinely scared, that they laugh, cringe, jump, and scream. A larger goal of the whole series is to raise awareness of the talented pool of filmmakers here in Maine.”
wa054010@ohiou.edu
