Johanna Rae Talks ‘Lilitu’, ‘All Through The House’ and More…
LILITU, a 35mm short suspense/thriller film, is an official selection in September’s ACTION ON FILM FESTIVAL. The film has garnered critical acclaim by online critics including AINT IT COOL NEWS which described LILITU as ‘one hell of a suspenseful film’, as well as ‘a throwback to classic films such as THE BIRDS and ROSEMARY’S BABY’ (scoop.it) and ‘an exceptional film’ (Taliesin meets the vampires).
The short film is about a woman who experiences spells of astral projection that transport her to the terrifying presence of the demonic entity known as Lilitu.
LILITU recently won the audience choice award at the HOLLYSHORTS film festival in Hollywood. The film was written and directed by Richard Lowry and stars Johanna Rae, Greg Travis and Nina Sallinen. The film’s Director of Photography is Giray Izcan and the chilling score was composed by Robert Douglas.
We recently got the chance to ask Johanna Rae about her experience on the film.
“Lilitu was an amazing experience for me, not only did I get the opportunity to shoot on 35 mm film, I also got a chance to work with a veteran actor Greg Travis and that pushed me to step my game up and grow as an actress. I also got a chance to work with a a Director I have been wanting to work with. I really love Rico’s vision in film and I knew that I was in great hands and on a great project.This project gave me the opportunity to work with a peer of mine I had met at Whitefire Theater Nina Sallinen who plays Lilitu, she is am amazing actress!
The Dp of Lilitu Gary is a very talented DP, and he really put such a beautiful look to this film. This project was full of amazing talent, and that made this film the final product be something I will always be proud to say I was a part of! One thing I will always remember on this is a third of the way into the shoot, the DP Gary informs t Rico the director, “We are running out of film!”. We pretty much had no budget and no room for error, so he looks at us and half way through the shoot says, “OK, we will have to do one take on the shots”. That was when, as an actor you know you better step your game up and get this shot, the pressure was scary but it also put me in a place that I didn’t have time to doubt myself or anything and got to be lost in the character , it really felt great!”
We also took advantage of this time to ask Johanna abut the other two projects she has been working on recently, All Through the House a Horror Film directed and written by Todd Nunes and a web series Sessions with Agnes and Estelle, directed and written by Laura Black .
The other two project’s, All Through the House, I was a small supporting role, I met one of the most exciting directors, Todd Nunes, someone to look for in the future! I may be working with him again on his new film coming up and I’m super stoked about that .
Laura Black and her comedy series Sessions with Agnes and Estelle contacted after we had met a year before at Action On Film and asked if I would want to work on her next episode, as soon as I watched it I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of! She is great and is now headed into her 3rd season for he show.
Keep an eye out for Johanna and he movies which are currently doing the rounds on the festival circuit. You can catch her next at the Action On Film Festival between the 2nd – 10th September.
