Two local Victoria film enthusiasts are hosting their second major screening event of a unique independent film called In the Glow of Darkness.
The duo behind this endeavour are Nicholas Workman and JP Meldrum, who just last year launched a new distribution company of small, DIY, independent films called Destroyed Distribution.
This new venture is an offshoot of their previous successful events held under the banner of Destroyed Cinema + Music, in which they hold screenings of indie films paired with live music.
“JP and I started this when we noticed that DIY cinema was not getting the same attention as DIY art was, or DIY music, or DIY writing,” Workman told Victoria Buzz.
They often operate out of smaller, DIY spaces such as Little Fernwood or Oaklands Community Centre, but every so often, a film grabs their attention and they put on a larger screening for that film.
The first of these screenings was a Canadian film called The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man, which had showings at Victoria’s Roxy Theatre and the Rio Theatre in Vancouver.
This week, Destroyed Cinema is holding another dual screening in Victoria and Vancouver for a film called In the Glow of Darkness.
This indie film follows several characters with intersecting stories, set in the fictional cyberpunk city of San Zokyo. There, a young hacker takes on the corporation behind “Meme,” a cyber-drug that mines users’ psyches to deliver personalized psychedelic trips and hyper-targeted ads.
“This is the fifth feature film from Tucker Bennett, who is a California-based filmmaker who has been operating in DIY and independent film spaces for a long time,” explained Workman.
“This film is kind of his take on a cyberpunk movie like Bladerunner or Battle Angel Alita, but it’s looking at the wackiness and the blandness of what the future actually would look like.”
Meldrum and Workman say that Bennett has recently been getting a lot of attention with his films at festivals in North America, and so they thought now would be the perfect time to show the film here in BC.
They added that this screening of the sci-fi, absurdist comedy will be the only opportunity to see the film, as it will not be going to streaming services or getting a wider release in BC.
An added bonus for those who go, is that Bennett will be in attendance for both screenings for a Q&A opportunity with the audience.
In the Glow of Darkness will be screening at Cinecenta on Thursday, April 16th, at 6:30 p.m., whereas the Vancouver screening will be at the Rio Theatre on Sunday, April 19th, at 6:30 p.m.
There are still tickets available for both screenings of the film.
