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TBRP still 1.jpg

Long-lost film from THE REVENANT director world premieres at MidWest WeirdFest

January 28, 2021

A found-footage feature film, thought lost for over 20 years, is finally seeing the light of the projector booth at its world premiere this March.

Kerry Prior, acclaimed Hollywood special effects artist and the visionary director of the cult horror hit THE REVENANT, lensed the found footage film THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT in 1999.

The Blare Rabbit Project poster.jpg

There is still some mystery as to why that film – once set for commercial release - was suddenly pulled and apparently lost for over two decades. But now, the re-found, found footage film is having its very first public screening at the 5th annual MidWest WeirdFest. The festival runs March 5-7, at the Micon Cinema in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

“THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT has been a ghost that’s haunted me for years” says writer/director Kerry Prior. “Due to either the tragicomic debacle that stymied the release of the film, or the rumor of bootleg copies floating around, people seemed to be aware of it. So when MidWest WeirdFest's programming director Dean Bertram asked about it, I thought maybe it was time to finally get it in front of a proper audience, and his festival seemed like the perfect venue.”

Behind the scenes of THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT with lead actress Andrea Fears (left) and Kerry Prior (right)

Behind the scenes of THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT with Kerry Prior (right)

Kerry will be presenting both the world premiere of THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT, as well as a special retrospective screening of THE REVENANT, at MidWest WeirdFest this year. A Q&A session will follow each screening.

Support the festival on Indiegogo, and get t-shirts, face masks, collectable dog tag festival passes and more: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/midwest-weirdfest-2021#/

The festival's first programming wave has already been announced, and can be seen here.

Full program details and other filmmaker guests will be revealed in the coming weeks.

MidWest WeirdFest passes are now on sale here: https://filmfreeway.com/MidWestWeirdFest/tickets

Individual tickets to each film will go on sale closer to the festival; both on the fest's website, and directly from the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

← 5th Annual MidWest WeirdFest: World Premiere Films, Filmmaker Guests, and More!MidWest WeirdFest 2021: First Programming Wave Announced! →

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