Poland’s New Europe Film Sales has boarded Northern Irish helmer Aislinn Clarke’s sophomore feature, titled Fréwaka. The new picture, now in post-production, follows Clarke’s 2018 debut, the found-footage horror The Devil’s Doorway, which was acquired by IFC for the USA. The announcement was first reported by Deadline.

Clarke works in Ireland, London and the USA, and holds the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Gold Fellowship 2020, aimed at supporting emerging female filmmakers.

Billed as “the first-ever Irish-language horror”, Fréwaka centres on a care worker called Shoo, who is haunted by a personal tragedy. Shoo is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman, who fears both the neighbours and the Na Sídhe – sinister folkloric entities that she believes abducted her decades before. As the pair develop a deep connection, Shoo becomes consumed by the old woman’s paranoia, rituals and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.

The confirmed cast members include Clare Monnelly (Moone Boy), Bríd Ní Neachtain (The Banshees of Inisherin [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], Róise & Frank) and Ukraine’s Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya (F20). Fréwaka originates from the Irish word fréamhacha, which refers to roots that are entwined underground.

Clarke herself described the story as “an original take on Irish folklore and contemporary Ireland, exploring the tension that exists between past and present, the personal and the public”.

Fréwaka is being produced by Dermot Lavery for DoubleBand Films (UK) and Patrick O’Neill for Wildcard (Ireland). It is funded through the Cine4 scheme, and is backed by Screen Ireland, TG4, Coimisiún na Meán (formerly known as the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) and the Section 481, Ireland’s national tax incentive.

New Europe Film Sales has boarded the world rights of the feature ahead of the imminent American Film Market (31 October-5 November). In Santa Monica, the Polish company is set to unveil the first footage of the movie. “We’re excited to be part of a film that combines an emotional story with a great sense of eeriness and plays with folk iconography, which we personally love so much,” commented New Europe Film Sales CEO Jan Naszewski.