Of Cosmic Dawn: a Jefferson Moneo interview on Cults, UFOs, and an Unusual Ontario Artist

   

Opening tomorrow at the VIFF Centre: Cosmic Dawn, a film about a woman with an unusual experience in her own childhood who is drawn deeper and deeper into a UFO cult, who seem to know more than they should about her past. Deftly skipping between her induction into the cult and a timestream four years later, in which there is a final reckoning, the film is an engaging and unusual entry into a very small subgenre (there are not many "reckoning with your UFO cult past" movies out there, with only the much weirder The Endless springing to mind). There's also some interesting Canadian colour in the film: Cosmic Dawn was shot, in part, on the property of Ontario artist Peter Camani, and incorporates his art - the "Screaming Heads" - as an element in the film. The VIFC guide also says that NXIVM also was an inspiration, but do note that the cult in the movie is NOT a sex cult!  

(Star Camille Rowe inside one of Camani's Screaming Heads)

Director Jefferson Moneo and members of the cast - including Philip Granger, who plays the cult's muscle and who has had a very long career in cinema, including a role in that 1987 Wayne Wang neo-noir Slam Dance (!) -  will be present at the Vancity on Friday, February 4th to talk about the film - which will surely also please people who took an interest in Stephen Hamm's Unarian stuff a couple of years ago (fans of electronic music should also see below about Alan Howarth, who scored the film). The trailer for the film is here; what follows is an email interview with director Moneo - rushed because I only just saw the film two days ago.  If you have follow-up questions, I highly recommend going to the VIFC tomorrow and asking him (and his cast) yourself! 

Jefferson Moneo

Allan: If I understand correctly, Peter Camani's sculpture garden with the "Screaming Heads" pre-exists the film . Was that location important to the genesis of the project? How did you connect with him/ become aware of his work?

Jefferson: We found this location through our location scout. He told us about Peter's place because we had asked him to show us only the most unique places he could think of. He immediately named Peter's place, so I went there with my producer and we spent the day with him. Peter very generously agreed to let us shoot there, so we decided to incorporate his artwork into the design of the film.

Tom Charity tells me that you had your own experience that inspired or informed this film; can you tell us about it?

When I was 12 years old, I was at my grandmother's ranch in southern Saskatchewan. I woke up at night to brilliant light pouring into the windows. I came downstairs and found my grandmother out in the yard, staring at the sky. There was crazy, colourful light coming from above and then all of a sudden, it disappeared. Just vanished. The really strange thing was that I remember looking at the clock beside my bed when I woke up. It read 11:32. After going outside and then returning to bed, the clock read 11:24. Naturally, nobody ever believes this story -- but it happened.

Would you describe yourself as a "believer," when it comes to UFO's, the paranormal, experiences with aliens, the paranormal, etc?

Absolutely. I saw those damn lights in the sky! It was bizarre.

How did you research the "cult" aspect of the film? Were there specific UFO cults you were thinking of? Were there any films about cults that inspired you? (Do you feel comfortable with the word "cult," by the way? It's a bit loaded...).

Well, I used to belong to a "cult" just like this in Costa Rica. We called ourselves Witnesses of the Third Kind. But then José, our leader, died in a motorcycle crash, so we all just packed up and went home. The food was terrible too. There are only so many plantains and beans one man can eat. Plus, all we really did was take hallucinogens and hang out on the beach.

Ha! Sounds pretty idyllic. Returning to the movie, was the cult's "bible" design inspired by specific books? (It reminded me a little of the Kryon channeled teachings, but I know nothing of Kryon - I've just seen the books. It has the look of some sort of weird private press book, though - you get it very right...).

(Cult leader Elyse - Antonia Zegers - next to Dieter, played by Philip Granger. Notice the book!)

Nothing specific, but if you go into any New-Age bookshop and you'll find tons of books like this. I've read most of them and a lot of them are written by people who are clearly unwell and delusional. Then again, who am I to talk? I lived in a shack in Costa Rica for a year.

Have you encountered any die-hard believers in the process of making/ screening this film? Has anyone reached out to you? Did you feel comfortable with that - did any weirdness ensue?

Not so far.  

The thing about UFO cults: they tend not to end well for the people involved, in a lot of the stories one reads; no one blasts off into space or gets raptured away; they're all just found dead in a room, Heaven's Gate style. But somehow movies about cults or about people who are mentally ill often end with the cult (or the mentally ill person) being validated, correct, etc. Why is that? Does cinema lend itself more to belief than skepticism? Do you feel fully comfortable with this - do you worry that anything might be irresponsible in endorsing the group, here?

If you're susceptible to joining a cult, I don't think watching a film is going to make a difference, one way or another. People tend to give movies way too much power. I mean, most people watch films as a distraction, not for life advice. This is partly why I find the Academy Awards insufferable. Hollywood tends to think the movies they make "transform the world". Gimme a break.

As for the how and why of "cult films", I'm not sure I have an answer for that. Most movies about cults that I've seen involve a lot of rape and abuse, which Cosmic Dawn most certainly does not have. Or it's about dirty hippies living on a rural commune. One thing I'll say about Costa Rica, we were a good smelling bunch!

There are blue flowers with hallucinogenic properties. Are they based on anything in particular, or is that a reference to the blue flowers in A Scanner Darkly, or...?

José used to grow flowers just like this. I don't know what they were, but I entered another dimension when we ate them. Just pop a petal in your mouth and off into the cosmos you go!

Did I correctly read Alan Howarth's name in the credits? This is the same Alan Howarth who collaborated with John Carpenter? How did you connect with him? What pieces of music does he do?

Yes, the same Alan Howarth. He composed the entire score. We had a mutual friend who introduced us. We still talk. I love Alan. He's brilliant. He's full of crazy ideas and a genuine artist.

Was it tricky getting the rights to the Klaatu song? Where in filming were you when you made the deal to use it? (Did you have a backup song in place for the karaoke scene, if you couldn't get Klaatu?).

No, we had licensed the track before shooting. It was written into the script. Of course, since it was written in the script, it didn't come cheap, but that's life sometimes. You have to pay for the things you really want.

Jefferson Moneo was also interviewed when Cosmic Dawn played the Denver Film Festival, so if you'd like to read more about this singular film, see here. Tickets for Friday's screening at the VIFC are going fast, so book soon (there are plenty left for the Saturday-Sunday-Monday screenings, but no guests are scheduled).