Folk-Horror Feature ‘Thaw’ Lands U.S.-Yakut Co-Production Deal at AFM

Inside the First Square Peg Social: A Quietly Radical Gathering for Rising Filmmakers

When filmmaker Alex Bush received their acceptance to Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen’s Square Peg Social (SPS), something shifted. “Just being accepted felt like a huge weight of confidence,” said Bush, whose short film “Thaw” premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. “It was really affirming to be spoken to by these people in this way of, ‘Yeah, so you as someone who’s going to be doing this and who’s already doing this.'” You’re already doing t…

Folk-Horror Feature ‘Thaw’ Lands U.S.-Yakut Co-Production Deal at AFM

Saidam Baryl and Argentic Productions have signed a co-production agreement on “Thaw,” a folk-horror feature written and directed by Yakutian filmmaker Stepan Burnashev. The deal, signed at the American Film Market (AFM), represents what is believed to be the first narrative feature co-production between a Yakut and an American film company. The mystical thriller takes place in a remote Yakutian village, where an American filmmaker investiga…

Folk Horror Movie ‘Thaw’ Lands First U.S.-Yakut Co-Production Deal

Folk horror movie Thaw has landed a co-production deal believed to be the first between a Yakut and an American film company, Variety reports today. Saidam Baryl and Argentic Productions will co-produce the feature, written and directed by Yakutian filmmaker Stepan Burnashev. Thaw is set “in a remote Yakutian village, where an American filmmaker investigating thawing permafrost gets caught up in a local teenager named Sardaana’s shamanic initiat…