The Moogai (2024)

Interesting facts

The Moogai is a 2024 Australian horror film written and directed by Jon Bell, based on his 2020 short film of the same name. The film stars Shari Sebbens, Meyne Wyatt, Tessa Rose, Clarence Ryan, Toby Leonard Moore and Bella Heathcote. The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2024, and was released in Australian cinemas on 31 October 2024. It won the 2024 CinefestOZ Film Prize.

Production

Jon Bell's short film of the same name was made as proof of concept for the feature film.

Bell is a Wiradjuri / Bundjalung / Yaegl man, hence the choice of the title in the Bundjalung language, which means "bad spirit" somewhat like the "boogie man". He said about the short film that he intended it to illuminate the intergenerational trauma faced by Aboriginal Australians in particular mothers whose children were forcibly removed from them, creating the Stolen Generations.

Jon Bell said that his (feature) film is "a love letter to the Aboriginal women in his family", acknowledging the way that Aboriginal women "have continued to create families and hold families together in the face of hundreds of years of genocidal practices and policies", referring specifically to the policies under which Aboriginal children were removed from their families.

The Moogai was produced by Mitchell Stanley of No Coincidence Media, with Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings, of Causeway Films. South Australian special effects company KOJO Studios was responsible for the visual effects. Marty Pepper of KOJO, who served as, executive director, post-production, created a replica of the set at his own property in Willunga to create effects during post-production.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.