bloody sun
Schedule | Credits | Links | Projects | More Projects | Showreel
WATCH THE BLOOdY SUN OFFiCIAL TRAILER NOW!!
Bloody Sun is a short documentary film about a horror filmmaker, and his pig.
In the world of independent Aussie horror filmmaking, Chris Sun is a legend. The hulking Sunshine Coast father-of-four and special effects business owner has never read a book. Yet in four years he’s written and directed three gory low-budget gems. His dream is to scare as many people as he possibly can as he embarks on his next cinematic adventure “Boar”, a creature feature about a giant killer bush pig gone wild. But the journey to make Boar is far from straight-forward, and Chris will need to dig deep to get the job done.
Director Phoebe Hart says, "I met Chris Sun at a panel on independent filmmaking in Brisbane. He was this passionate horror film director and a self-declared bogan, which in Australia means someone uncouth or of low social status. I immediately understood Chris had a great story to tell, especially when he mentioned his next ambitious project was on giant pig marauding the Australian outback. So I asked him if I could follow him on his journey. Chris said yes, and, several years later, the result is the film we have today."
The film Boar came out in 2017 and it is an Australian horror film written and directed by Chris Sun about a young family that find themselves in the Australian countryside, being hunted by a bloodthirsty wild boar. The film stars Ernie Dingo, John Jarratt, Christie-Lee Britten, and Melissa Tkautz, with special appearances by Chris Haywood and Steve Bisley.
The critical reception for Boar was mixed, but the film went onto to enjoy global distribution nonetheless after a solid run at the genre film festival circuit. And Chris Sun has defied the odds when the Australian film industry is viewed as a whole. The majority Australian directors rarely make more than one feature film in their career, the so-called "curse of the first time filmmaker", and those who make more long-form narratives do so only every 10 years. At the time of production, Sun had made 3 features in as many years.
Dr Phoebe Hart is a writer, director and producer of documentaries, factual content and children's television. is also a senior lecturer in film, television and digital media at the Queensland University of Technology, and principal of Hartflicker, a video and film production company. She is known particularly for her autobiographical road trip movie, Orchids: My Intersex Adventure. Phoebe has worked for Network Ten and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The protagonist of Bloody Sun, Chris Sun. Image © Hartlficker
Bloody Sun premiered in Official Selection at the Nightmares Film Festival 21, screening Friday 22 October 2021 as part of the festival's Short Documentary program. The Nightmares Film Festival (known as the “Cannes” of Horror) occurs in Columbus, Ohio (US) at the renowned Gateway Film Center. The festival is programmed by indie filmmakers Jason Tostevin and Chris Hamel, and showcases the rarest, scariest, most daring and most unsettling films from around the world.
The Australian premiere was at the Palace Barracks in Brisbane on Monday 29 November 2021, where Bloody Sun screened with The Strez.
Bloody Sun screened at San Fransisco's Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, which is in its 18th edition, from 1 December 2021. It was in the program curated by George Kaskanlian Jr with some other terrific documentaries about indie horror filmmaking including The Brilliant Terror and Snapper. The 19-year-old festival directed by George Kaskanlian Jr programs a broad scope of cutting-edge genre films of all varieties and budgetary considerations from major productions by professional companies to micro-budget films, and everything in between.
Bloody Sun was in competition at the 2022 Dead Northern (UK) horror film festival, directed by Rick Lawson, Josh Lawson and Gareth Humprheys. Are you a meatbag that needs light, sustenance and likes your senses to be manipulated? If the answer is yes, then the Dead Northern experience is for you.
The film was nominated for Best Short Documentary after being selected from 1,567 entries at FilmQuest 2022 (US) directed by Jonathan Martin. The genre film festival is one of MovieMaker Magazine's "50 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World" (2021 & 2019). FIlmQuest celebrates the majesty and might of genre filmmaking in the realms of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and the beyond (including action, thriller, western, kung-fu, and more).
Chris Sun and the prosthetic pig "Darleen", as captured in the documentary Bloody Sun. Image © Hartflicker
Director, Producer & Editor: Phoebe Hart
Camera: Phoebe Hart and Chengsuo Liu
Sound Designer: Tfer Newsome
Music: Yanto Browning
Animator: Paul Van Opdenbosch
Colourist: Justin McDonald
Cast and crew of Bloody Sun. Image credit: Tyler Sun.
Chris Sun on the the set of Boar, as captured in the documentary Bloody Sun. Image © Hartflicker
Return to the top of the page
