Gideon Adlon, Abigail Cowen: SXSW film ‘Witch Hunt’ empowers women

Gideon Adlon, Abigail Cowen: SXSW film 'Witch Hunt' empowers women
UPI

LOS ANGELES, March 18 (UPI) — Witch Hunt, which premiered Wednesday at the SXSW online film festival, is an allegory about an alternate America in which the government hunts practicing witches. Stars Gideon Adlon and Abigail Cowen said the film is about empowering women in the face of persecution.

“It’s not about spells and magic but it is about finding your power,” Adlon said in a Zoom interview. “We need to keep exploring stories where women lift each other up and protect each other.”

Adlon plays Claire, a high school girl who objects to her mother, Martha (Elizabeth Mitchell), sheltering witches in their home. However, when her mother hides sisters Fiona (Cowen) and Shae (Echo Campbell), Claire becomes protective of her.

“Claire has a lot of maternal instincts towards Fiona,” Adlon said.

Claire and Martha’s house is Fiona and Shae’s last stop on the way to Mexico, where witches seek asylum from the Bureau of Witchcraft Investigation. The BWI already caught Fiona’s mother and burned her at the stake.

“Fiona has lived a life in hiding and on the run,” Cowen said. “She’s a little bit, I’d say, socially awkward.”

Martha doesn’t let neighbors into the house, for fear of them discovering the witches in hiding. Martha also presents herself as a citizen who believes in the BWI and agrees with their literal witch hunt.

“She is protective, yet guarded,” Mitchell said. “She has put up a screen for the world that has allowed her to do what she thinks is right behind that screen, and I think she’s terrified most of the time.”

Mitchell said Martha also has to balance the risk she’s taking for social justice with her own daughter’s well-being.

“You want your children to feel protected,” Mitchell said. “You don’t want to scare them to death, but at the same time, in this world, you almost have to in order to keep them alive.”

Witch Hunt is the second witch-related project for both Adlon and Cowen. Cowen co-starred on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Adlon led a new coven of witches in The Craft: Legacy.

“I love doing anything witchy,” Adlon said. “I’ll do it over and over again.”

Writer/director Elle Callahan said she always wanted to make a movie about witches. Callahan grew up in New England and was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials in history class and in field trips to Salem, Mass.

“It was, oddly, one of the only subjects in school that revolved around mostly women,” Callahan said. “Unfortunately, it was pretty much their demise. So when I wanted to study anything that was mostly just women, it was them being persecuted.”

Hundreds of women were accused of witchcraft in Salem from 1692 to 1693. Fourteen women and five men were executed, and four more — three women and one man — died awaiting trial.

Callahan’s story of modern-day witches grew into an allegory about persecuting any group authorities perceive as a threat. Cowen said female energy often can threaten people in power, without any magic powers.

“A woman’s intuition can be threatening,” Cowen said. “It’s about finding your power. It’s about finding and owning it and giving in to your intuition.”

Cowen and Callahan both said “witch” continued to be an insult hurled at women long after the Salem Witch trials. Cowen said “witch” became interchangeable with the derogatory slang “bitch,” too.

Callahan added that the term “witch hunt” has become more common in politics, today. Modern day politicians do not face allegations of practicing magic, but often compare investigations against them to the false convictions of alleged witches.

The writer/director said she hoped portraying a literal witch hunt would encourage women in the audience to stand together against oppressive forces.

“I loved how we’re kind of taking back the word,” Callahan said. “It used to be an insult, and now it’s a very empowering thing to call yourself.”

Witch Hunt sold out at SXSW and is available for distribution.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.