- Title: VARIOUS: Blair Witch director shows new film at Tribeca Festival
- Date: 1st May 2008
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL MYRICK, DIRECTOR AND CO-WRITER, "THE OBJECTIVE", SAYING: "It originated really, from a lot of video I saw on-line. A lot of soldiers were sending in their kind of first-person events of their battles in Iraq and Afghanistan and I was looking at a lot of this footage and, so it was that combined with a long-held need for me to do a thriller in the desert."
- Embargoed: 16th May 2008 13:00
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- Reuters ID: LVA5SUNA37192EJPZ38W62APX79
- Story Text: New film 'The Objective' is infused with a 'Blair Witch Project'-style sensibility, which isn't surprising given that director/co-writer Daniel Myrick is one of the filmmakers responsible for that landmark indie smash hit.
Myrick has traded genres from a folk-horror in the Maryland backwoods to a war-thriller movie in the wilds of Afghanistan. Instead of a group of campers terrorized by a mysterious force, it is an American Special Forces team. And while eschewing the mock home-video style of Blair Witch, the first-person framework is strikingly similar.
The story, set just after the events of September 11, revolves around a secret mission led by a tight-lipped CIA agent (Jonas Ball), who keeps the soldiers accompanying him in the dark about the exact nature of their operation. While the military team believe they are going after terrorists it's soon revealed they have been sent to discover the cause of a mysterious energy source.
"It originated really, from a lot of video I saw on-line. A lot of soldiers were sending in their kind of first-person events of their battles in Iraq and Afghanistan and I was looking at a lot of this footage and, so it was that combined with a long-held need for me to do a thriller in the desert," Myrick said explaining the origins of the idea for the film.
The the viewer sees much of the action from the main character's point-of-view, via an infrared camera.
Myrick said he is still surprised by how popular 'The Blair Witch Project' became, but also hopes that viewers will see 'The Objective' on its own merits.
"As an artist I want people to appreciate "Blair Witch"
for what it was, but at the same time, give whatever else I do, at least a fighting chance," he told Reuters.
The film, which includes Wesley Clark Jr. (son of the U.S. general) among its screenwriters, boasts a sense of authenticity thanks to atmospheric Morocco locations and the fact that many of the cast members have actual military experience. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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