Tue Feb 28, 2023 – 7:30 pm | Hendricks Arts Center
Fri Mar 3, 2023 – 2:30 pm | Visit Beloit

NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE VENUES
Purchase your ticket either online or at the Box Office

Murmur

Directed by Mark Polish
Narrative Feature
United States | 90 min | 2022

When five Bay Area friends venture into the Redwood National Forest to play the augmented (mixed) reality (AR) game MURMUR, their own reality becomes dangerously distorted.

“RELATIVE Q&A with Wendy Robie (TWIN PEAKS), Clare Cooney, Emily Lape, Melissa DuPrey and More!”

Cinema Femme Magazine

https://cinemafemme.com/2022/02/26/relative-qa-with-wendy-robie-twin-peaks-clare-cooney-emily-lape-melissa-duprey-and-more-february-27-130-pm-cst%ef%bf%bc/

“Grand Jury Award for Chicago Indie RELATIVE and WALKING DEAD star Roberts”

SCREEN Magazine

“At the Siskel Center, Rogers Park is Tuesday’s Star”

Chicago Reader

“A Family is at a Crossroads in Exclusive Trailer for Michael Glover Smith’s RELATIVE”

The Film Stage

MURMUR is much more than a technophobic horror film. At its core, it’s about our willingness to carry around a device that distorts, manipulates and destabilizes our reality. A seductive black box that captures, stores and even sells our most sacred memories. It’s power to persuade can be truly terrifying.

The majority of the population now witnesses the world through their smart phone. Their reality is anything but real. It’s all been augmented (AR / mixed reality) to encourage clicks and collect hearts. From filters to news feeds. It’s a blind fold that only wants us to see the best versions of each other and of ourselves.

As a filmmaker I felt the most compelling way to examine this detrimental device was through the lens of horror. Killing, maiming and torturing young adults is not without a harsh health warning label; You just may want to kill your phone– before it kills you.

Mark Polish, Director

Murmur - Poster

Mark Polish, Director | MurmurMark Polish
Director

Award-winning writer, director and actor Mark Polish broke onto the independent filmmaking scene at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999 with the premiere of his first film TWIN FALLS IDAHO, an atmospheric and heartfelt tale of conjoined twins, which he co-wrote and starred in with his identical twin brother Michael Polish.

Polish’s second film, JACKPOT, received the John Cassavetes Best Independent Film Award at the 2001 Spirit Awards and the New American Cinema Award at the 2001 Seattle International Film Festival. His third film, NORTHFORK, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was hailed by Roger Ebert as “a masterpiece.”

FOR LOVERS ONLY, a black and white homage to the French New Wave, starred Mark Polish and Stana Katic as regretful former lovers reunited in France by fate. The film was released on iTunes where it remained at number one for three weeks.

Mark Polish’s next film, HEADLOCK, which he wrote, directed and stars alongside Dianna Agron, will premiere in 2016. Filmed on location in over 15 countries, the story centers on married intelligence traffickers battling nano-terrorism.

Polish also co-wrote The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking, a practical guide to writing, shooting, editing, scoring and distributing films, published by Harcourt.

His most recent film MURMUR, was lensed using only iPhones and an Augmented Reality (AR) app. The majority of visual FX were in-camera using only the power of an app and an iPhone. The film will premiere in 2022.

Film Information

Director:  Mark Polish
Country: United States
Year: 2022
Language: English
Runtime: 90 min
Rated:  R

Credits

Writer: Mark Polish
Producers: Daniel A. Davila, Janet DuBois, Karl Hein, Mark Polish
Editor:  Jamison Forkenbrock, Mark Polish, Bryan A. Shaw
Cinematography: Rob DiCaro
Music: Alexander Taylor

Connect With This Film

Principal Cast

BIFF - Beloit International Film Festival
BIFF | Beloit International Film Festival