An eye-catching blend of genre filmmaking, Joshua Amar's 12-minute short Anaconda begins as an erotic thriller before mutating into something much more sinister. A dark and explicit cautionary tale with a hint of horror, Amar places his viewers in a tense and unsettling situation, with some confident, uncompromising filmmaking.

"There's no monster more terrifying than the one you can imagine"

Setting its tone early on, as we witness Anaconda's young protagonist engage in a spot of mutual masturbation with a stranger online, it quickly becomes clear that Amar is aiming for more than just titillation here, as things go from hot and heavy to anxious and unsettling. "There's no monster more terrifying than the one you can imagine", the director explains as we discuss the aims of his short. Before adding that although the film is about "the fear of toxic masculinity and the horrors of not fitting the mold of being a typical man", there's a universality to the story as it explores "sexuality in the digital age and the anxiety-inducing fears and stigmas that stem from that".

Anaconda is an unforgettable watch. It's such an immersive piece with the simmering sound design, frantic edit, intimate cinematography and strong performances all adding to the striking atmosphere of the piece. With Amar tackling his production in a way which meant his film was a reflection of his protagonist's journey, he knew he faced several challenges to achieve something that matched his expectations, especially working with what he describes as a "shoestring budget".

"It wasn't about showing off as a director but rather eliciting a feeling from my audience by whatever means possible"

Shooting the film in his bedroom and the streets around his apartment, Amar lists "learning how to control the tone of the script" as one of his main challenges in bringing Anaconda to the screen. "I knew I wanted to oscillate the feeling of cold tension (executed through long takes) and anxiety-inducing panic (directed through extreme closeups and visceral cuts)", the filmmaker reveals as we discuss his production. "Going into the movie, I knew that to control the delicate balance between the two tones, I'd have to shoot the film two ways. Every scene in the movie has a one-shot, and every scene has a ton of visceral coverage. I felt it out in the edit and ultimately left what I didn't need on the cutting room floor. It wasn't about showing off as a director but rather eliciting a feeling from my audience by whatever means possible".

A highly stylised short full of surprises, Anaconda really leaves its mark and it comes as no surprise to hear that Amar is now developing the film into a feature version called Ogre. That's not the only feature the director has in the works though, as before that he's working on another called Don't Ever Leave Me, which he describes as a "$1-2 million" project that they're "actively seeking the right financing partners" for. He also has a micro-feature in the works called Just Die Already, which he explains is a "horror/romance akin to Blue Valentine and Let the Right One In". Exciting times!

Filmmaker's Website