A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness

Marked by loneliness, ecstatic beauty and an optimism of the darkest sort, A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness is a radical proposition for the existence of utopia in the present. It follows an unnamed character through three seemingly disparate moments in his life. With little explanation, we join him in the midst of a 15-person collective on a small Estonian island; in isolation in the majestic wilderness of Northern Finland; and during a concert as the singer and guitarist of a black met al band in Norway.

Starring musician Robert AA Lowe (best known for his intense live performances under the name LICHENS) in the lead role, A Spell lies somewhere between fiction and non-fiction - it is at once a document of experience and an experience itself, an inquiry into transcendence that sees the cinema as a site for transformation.