IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU: Patton Oswalt Joins New Doc From Alexandre O. Philippe

Once a talking head in Alexandre O. Philippe's documentary, Chain Reactions, comedian, actor and fellow geek Patton Oswalt has come on board Philippe's newest project, In Search of Nosferatu, as an executive producer. 

An obsessive filmmaker and a sensorially gifted archivist who can “hear” silent films search the world for surviving copies of Nosferatu to reassemble and reinvent F.W. Murnau's vampire classic from a multiplicity of decayed versions.

Oswalt will lend his geek-cred and star power to the project, likely acting as a representative for the project to help it secure further financing - the business side of the project. In Search of Nosferatu is being produced by Terri Piñon of Medianoche Productions, who has worked with Philippe on one of his most recent projects Kim Novak's Vertigo. Horror historian and author Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (1000 Women in Horror) is on board as a Co-Producer, as is nuestro padre de terror, Pablo Guisa of Morbido Films. 

Padre de terror is using their platform Fantastic Pavilion to support the project during Marche du Film at Cannes this week. 

Award-winning actor, writer, and comedian Patton Oswalt has signed on as Executive Producer for IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU, the next feature documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe (78/52, Leap of Faith, Lynch/Oz, Chain Reactions). The project - a global archival treasure hunt for decaying prints of F.W. Murnau's seminal vampire classic - began principal photography earlier this month. 

 

"Nosferatu isn't just a film; it's a cultural entity that has seeped into the collective unconscious, and its surviving prints are like relics," said Oswalt. "The chance to work with Alexandre, who dissects cinema with the precision of a detective and the passion of a fanatic, is irresistible. I can't wait to see what horrors and beauties we dig up."

 

The film follows Philippe and British archivist Lauren Newport-Quinn on a personal journey across the globe - from Edinburgh to Mexico City, Seoul to Bratislava - to uncover and examine surviving copies of Murnau's 1922 masterpiece. Rejecting the notion of a single "perfect" version, the project champions the material decay and geographical diversity of the prints as essential to the film's emotional and historical DNA. Leaning on Newport-Quinn’s rare form of synesthesia, in which she ‘hears’ visual distortions, the project will culminate in a reinvention of Nosferatu itself - recut from the diverse prints discovered during production, with a brand-new score informed by her unique sensory experience. All prints will be scanned and made available to the public via a free, accessible online portal, preserving their individual beauty and decay for future generations.

 

"Patton is a true cinephile and a vital voice among cinephiles," said director Alexandre O. Philippe. "His enthusiasm for the macabre and his deep understanding of genre mythology make him the perfect partner for this journey into the heart of cinema's most enduring vampire story."

 

Produced by Terri Piñon of Medianoche Productions (Kim Novak's Vertigo) out of Marfa, TX, alongside acclaimed horror historian and author Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (1000 Women in Horror) as Co-Producer, IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU is structured as a multinational co-production with Hopscotch Films (UK/Scotland), Morbido Group (Mexico), Artactive Production (Slovakia) and Autopilot (France). Heller-Nicholas, a four-time Australian Film Critics Association award winner and two-time Bram Stoker Award finalist, brings her encyclopedic knowledge of cult and horror cinema to the project - ensuring the film's scholarly rigor while honoring its genre DNA. Executive producer Sonia Droulhiole of Thunderbug Productions is also on board.

 

The announcement coincides with the opening of the 79th Festival de Cannes, where the production team will be in residence at Fantastic Pavilion - the Marché du Film's home for genre cinema, curated by Pablo Guisa Koestinger of Mexico's Morbido Group. Members of the production team will be on the ground for international co-production and distribution conversations, with select press availability for filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe.

 

IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU will feature interviews with an eclectic roster of top filmmakers and artists influenced by the film.

 

Philippe, the preeminent, contemporary documentarian of our generation can't stop, won't stop making 'cinema essays'. He is indeed, as the press release announces, an 'obsessive filmmaker' and the history of film is better because he is involved in it. 

Anarchists have enjoyed his films since he made his feature length documentary debut, The People vs. George Lucas, back in 2010. His latest, Kim Novak's Vertigo, premiered at Venice back in September.

We find the other subject of his new film, British archivist, the "Restoration Queen" Lauren Newport-Quinn, fascinating. They have a rare form of synesthesia (... a harmless neurological phenomenon where stimulation of one sense triggers involuntary, automatic experiences in a second, unrelated sense.), "... where she 'hears' visual distortions and can tell us through this remarkable ability how silent film sounds".

Actual, tangible prints of Murnau's NOSFERATU have been located all around the world, from the National Library of Norway to Mexico to Seoul. This film will document the global search for these prints.

 

IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU will have two feature film outcomes: a documentary that takes us on the road to uncover these different versions of Murnau's NOSFERATU, and a re-constructed version of the film itself recut from these diverse prints which will be scanned and later made available to the public in a freely accessible online portal, in order to preserve and celebrate their individual beauty and decay.

 

Both the documentary and the recut feature seek to amplify and celebrate 

NOSFERATU's global and historical reach, reminding us that cinema is more than living - it is dynamic, enduring, and immortal. 

 

From Edinburgh to Mexico City, Seoul to Bratislava, IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU tracks the personal journey of filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe and archivist Lauren Newport-Quinn as they uncover copies of original prints, DVDs, VHS tapes and laser discs of Murnau's NOSFERATU in different places around the world, and in radically different states of material decomposition.

 

Rejecting the idea of one perfect, immaculate single version of the film, we instead seek to champion how the material deviations in different surviving versions add historical value, geographical diversity, and - most of all - emotional complexity to the original film.

 

Newport-Quinn's experience of first watching these wildly differing versions will be informed by her rare form of synesthesia, where she 'hears' visual distortions and can tell us through this remarkable ability how silent film sounds. A self-identifying 'print whisperer', by sharing her multisensory experience of interpreting visual decay Newport-Quinn will be essential in bringing Murnau's NOSFERATU back to life: not merely just visually, but through a new score which will be directly informed by how Newport-Quinn so uniquely experiences the different versions of the film uncovered across the globe. And for his part, Philippe will meet fellow travelers of the night like visionary directors, actors drawn to the grotesque, musicians who conjure dread and longing, and film historians who have spent lifetimes tracing the legacy of Murnau's masterpiece. Each holds NOSFERATU not merely as a classic film, but as a formative encounter that has haunted their work and imagination.