We chat to Jonathan Zaurin, director of Derelict, about the current state of the UK film industry and trying to get genre films made in an industry that values celebrity over originality.
This story was originally published in Film Stories Issue 52.
Derelict feels like a small miracle of a film. Mostly told in stunning black-and-white, it’s a familiar, but effective story of the destructive nature of revenge. Suzanne Fulton plays Abigail, a woman desperate for revenge over the murder of her father. Abigail’s journey to redemption is intercut with the story of two brothers, Matt and Ewan. The film recently had its world premiere at FrightFest 2024, and was warmly received by both the audience and press.
Zaurin, who originally hails from France but has settled in Hereford, has worked in horror films for most of his career. His love of the genre dates back to an old video rental store where he’d go to with his dad and be introduced to the worlds of Brian De Palma and David Lynch.
Greatly impressed by Derelict, we caught up with Zaurin for an extensive chat about not just making genre films, but the entire state of the film industry and just how difficult it is to get a film made and distributed in the UK.