Chelsea Lupkin
Whether or not you believe that aliens exist, Fredrik S. Hana’s FROM.BEYOND presents an uncanny representation of how mankind might take in such a world-altering revelation. No stranger to exploring and critiquing people’s dark obsessions with the unknown or the perverse nature of what it means to be human – who could forget his ‘nunsploitation’ film Sister Hell – Hana’s unsettling experimental sci-fi/horror doesn’t feel like a work of fiction. Utilizing old school film techniques, stunning practical effects, and an unorthodox approach to screenwriting, FROM.BEYOND is as disturbing as it is beautiful.
“It started with memories of falling into dark pits on the internet”
As one of the most unnerving short films of the 2022 genre circuit, I got to see FROM.BEYOND on the big screen at SITGES International Film Festival. While experiencing it in a theater with its chilling score (Anders S. Hana) and rather disgusting sound effects made it feel that much more otherworldly and larger than life, it surprisingly plays just as eerie on the small screen. In many ways, FROM.BEYOND gives the impression that it shouldn’t even be watched, as if it was something the audience has stumbled upon and wasn’t meant to see. And yet, we consume it with a morbid fascination for the grotesque.
Talking to S/W about his motivations behind creating the short, Hana explains some of this feeling that what you’re seeing is actually prohibited: “FROM.BEYOND was inspired by a lot of things. I think it started with memories of falling into dark pits on the internet in the mid-90s as a kid, and all of the sleepless nights that followed. My first meeting with footage and images that felt forbidden and cursed.” It was these “childhood mini-traumas” that seemed to sneak their way into Hana’s work, therefore urging him to create something in the found footage genre.
“I wanted to make a film that gave me and the crew a space to experiment, with both storytelling and aesthetics, in a way that opened up the filmmaking process” – director Hana discussing his approach
FROM.BEYOND is about aliens, isn’t it? Perhaps not. This is one of those films that uses the genre framework to give a critique on humanity, particularly the more taboo and freaky side of things. It theorizes that if aliens really did land on Earth, man would do three things: study, conquer, and have sex with them. Isn’t that just lovely? “With FROM.BEYOND I wanted to make a film that captured the feeling of gazing up at the night sky, a pure sense of wonder and awe, hammered to death by the messiness and horrors of humanity.” Messy is an understatement, and frankly, it drives home that people are really that f**ked up.
That’s not to say that FROM.BEYOND isn’t entertaining. On the contrary, it’s absolutely engrossing because the story unfolds in a series of strange vignettes, constructing what Hana refers to as “mixtape of different formats and perspectives”. He wanted to use found footage sensibilities to tell a global story, leaning into collaboration and experimental storytelling to achieve this. “Me and co-writer Jamie Turville never wrote a whole script. We approached it more bit-by-bit, sequence by sequence, having lots of conversations after each shooting day on what to explore next. It was very fluid and open and collaborative.” This unconventional approach allowed the vision and its meaning to form organically, with the short made over the course of two years, wherein the team was shooting, editing, and writing all at once and sometimes overlapping.
Hana employs official looking statement footage to add an air of authenticity to his short.
Each sequence feels like a different perspective, shifting aspect ratio, style, and even country – you might have noticed that multiple languages were used, including French, German, Portuguese, and English, further driving home this global story. “Aesthetically it was important for me to shy away from digital effects and filters as much as possible, and experiment with different physical cameras (old and new) to create a look that felt truly authentic and organic”, Hana explains, and with Cinematographer Christer B. Runde they created an incredibly surreal and cohesive look that brought the vision together.
But it’s the practical VFX in FROM.BEYOND that are the real stunners of the film. The creature effects were all made by Norwegian FX-guru Michael Wallin from Wallin SFX. He utilized different techniques suited for each camera, from miniatures and prosthetics to sliming piles of garbage. “We did it all. Michael is a true champion and I’m glad to have him available in my home town of Stavanger, Norway, “ Hana tells Short of the Week.
FROM.BEYOND is truly one of those genre shorts that feels a little too real and therefore scary by nature. The film played at the Fantasia International Film Festival winning Best International Short film, Nordic Panorama winning Best Nordic Short, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival winning Best Short Film, Overlook Film Festival receiving a Special Jury Award, and finally SITGES winning the Méliès d’Or.
TLDR: humans are more disturbing than aliens 😉