Festivals - SXSW 2021 : The Thing That Ate The Birds an Unsettling Horror Experience

By Mulder, 01 march 2021

The Thing That Ate The Birds, ALTER’s anxiety-addled short horror film will have its World Premiere at SXSW on March 16th at 6pm PST. From writer and director duo Sophie Mair (Ella, And the Baby Screamed) and Dan Gitsham (Ella, And the Baby Screamed), The Thing That Ate The Birds follows Abel, the Head Gamekeeper as he discovers the thing that is eating his grouse, and is the newest edition to ALTER’s robust collection of films which explore social issues through the lens of horror.

ALTER is a horror brand for novel and grounded stories exploring the human condition through warped perspectives. Giving voice to emerging, diverse and established filmmakers, ALTER’s owned and operated channel is distributed across YouTube and Facebook, with more than 15M monthly uniques, where three short films or series are released each week. In addition to curating and distributing award-winning content, ALTER develops unique stories with some of the most innovative minds in the genre through its ALTER Studio projects - which are not bound to a particular platform or format. In October, ALTER, along with Executive Producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man), premiered Part 2 of the horror series “50 States of Fright”, starring Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Travis Fimmel (“Vikings”, Warcraft: The Beginning) and Christina Ricci (“Monster,” “Z: The Beginning of Everything”). In 2019, the BAFTA-nominated horror short, The Blue Door starring (Gemma Whelan - Game of Thrones, The End of the F***ing World) premiered on ALTER, and earlier this year it was also announced that “Moreau”, a sci-fi TV series that puts a modern spin on the classic novel, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” by H.G. Wells has gone into development and will be written by Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class, Thor, Rim Of The World). In addition, the psychological thriller “Horror Accidental”, based on the Japanese TV drama series, ‘Horror Accidental 1&2’, will be brought to life by writer and director Evan Daugherty (‘Divergent,’ ‘Tomb Raider’). Additional releases include the brand’s first unscripted podcast series, “ALTER Weekly”, that gives its audience a deep dive into the past, present and future of the horror genre; short film La Noria, directed by Carlos Beana, that won best animated film at The Webby Awards; CAM, winner of Best Screenplay at 2018’s Fantasia Festival and was acquired by Netflix; the official 2018 Sundance Film Festival selection, Summer of 84, the thriller directed by RKSS (Turbo Kid); and the SXSW selection, Villains, starring Bill Skarsgard (It) and Maika Monroe (It Follows).

The Thing That Ate The Birds is a short movie written and directed by Sophie Mair (Ella, And the Baby Screamed) and Dan Gitsham (Ella, And the Baby Screamed). It is produced by Rebecca Wolff, Jude Goldrei and Sophie Mair Executive Produced by Neville Pierce . The cast is composed by Eoin Slattery (Borstal Boy, “Rosamunde Pilcher”), Rebecca Palmer (This Filthy Earth, “Hard Sun”), Lewis Mackinnon (Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire, Chosen) and James Swanton (Host, Frankenstein’s Creature)

Synopsis :
Set on the North Yorkshire Moors, the film follows Abel, the Head Gamekeeper as he discovers the thing that is eating his grouse. His blunt and violent response brings the menace back home shattering his already crumbling relationship with his wife.

The Thing That Ate the Birds
Written and directed by Dan Gitsham and Sophie Mair
Produced by Jude Goldrei, Sophie Mair, Rebecca Wolff
Starring Eoin Slattery, Rebecca Palmer, Lewis Mackinnon and James Swanton
Music by Krantz
Cinematography : James Oldham
Edited by James Taggart
Release date : March 16, 2021 (SXSW)
Running time : 12 minutes