Paranoid thriller about an occult conspiracy during the live recording of a television show.
Buenos Aires, the early 1980s. During the final recording of a live TV show called 60 Minutes before Midnight, a group of journalists are working feverishly to uncover evidence of an occult conspiracy in the higher echelons of the government. A guest on the show – self-proclaimed ‘wizard’ Adrian Marcato – seems to know more…
History of the Occult won the Black Tulip for Best Film at Imagine 2021. It was the feature film debut of Argentine director Cristian Ponce, whose The Kirlian Frequency screened at Imagine last year. For his first occult gem, Ponce drew inspiration from the paranoid political thrillers of the 1970s but added a layer of cosmic horror. Shot in grainy black and white, History of the Occult gradually builds its intensely claustrophobic atmosphere. The film’s setting – a live TV show in the 1980s – makes it a perfect addition to our Ghost in the Feed theme programme.
