Screamfest L.A. 2014: Dobromir Baychev Talks World Premiere of Cyprian’s Prayer
Sean Decker
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With Bulgarian filmmaker Dobromir Baychev’s feature film Cyprian’s Prayer set for its US Premiere this coming Sunday, October 19, 2014, at 12:30 pm in Hollywood, CA, at the Screamfest Film Festival, read on for our exclusive Q&A with him, and have a look at some stills and a trailer for the flick.
Written, produced, and directed by Baychev, the synopsis of the supernatural-themed Cyprian’s Prayer reads: An excommunicated Eastern Orthodox priest is the only one who can save a possessed young woman. Actors Silvia Petkova, Ivo Krustev, Bogdana Vulpe, Luba Petrova, and Alexey Kojuharov star.
Said filmmaker Baychev of his feature directorial debut, which he filmed over the course of ten days in 2011 on a Sony EX-1 camera, “I love the genre so I wanted my first feature to be a horror (film). I needed a very contained story with minimum characters and locations in order to have a shot at making the film. The script is not inspired by something specific, nor was it an attempt at imitation. I wasn’t thinking, ‘Well, The Exorcist is the greatest horror film of all-time (so) let’s rip it off on a no-budget scale.’ I just came up with the image of this tortured girl with her mouth sewn like a voodoo doll, who is found by two nuns. The rest of the story developed from there. I thought, ‘Exorcism is always presented from a Catholic point of view. What about the Eastern Orthodox way, is that intriguing?’”
As for his approach to the film, which screenwriter Eric Red (The Hitcher, 100 Feet) has described as, “The scariest and most convincing demonic possession film since The Exorcist,” Baychev offered, “I just wanted to make a small, atmospheric movie. (One) that was more creepy than scary. Although initially I envisioned the story to be told in a certain non-linear way, I later abandoned that idea. The very nature of a demonic possession is linear. Constructing the narrative in a non-linear way would render it anti-climactic. As for the supernatural element, I didn’t want to put too much emphasis on it, but to present it almost matter-of-factly. I wanted the film to be as much drama as it is horror.”
We queried Baychev as to what prompted his desire to deliver Cyprian’s Prayer as a black and white film and how he felt it impacted the narrative.
“I didn’t originally plan to make it black and white,” replied the filmmaker. “During post-production I spent a lot of time trying to make it work in color, but the footage didn’t hold up too well in color grading. I was very frustrated with the grade. Something felt wrong. So I gave it a try in black and white, and to my surprise it didn’t detract from the film but added to it. On a visual level it made it more filmic. I’d say the film is pretty minimalistic so I think the black and white narrative complements this minimalism well.”
Regarding his thoughts on the Screamfest 2014 selection of Cyprian’s Prayer, “I couldn’t be happier,” Baychev concluded. “It’s truly the best case scenario. Ever since I read Screamfest was the festival that discovered Paranormal Activity, I knew this was the place to be. When I learned that if it wasn’t for Screamfest, Paranormal Activity could’ve had gone unnoticed, I instantly knew that these guys know horror and can see beyond a ridiculously low budget. And then I was very fortunate to actually have Cyprian’s Prayer selected at Screamfest.”
To purchase tickets to Cyprian’s Prayer, please visit Screamfest here.
Screamfest runs from October 14th to the 23rd.
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