“They say in New York city, there’s a rat for every person,I say…there’s more.”
Says Ed Sheehan, a Brooklyn PMP with 48 years of experience. And truly one of the stars of the upcoming documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. Based on NY Times Best Selling Book by Robert Sullivan Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the Cities Most Unwanted Inhabitants. Spurlock was nominated for an Academy Award for his documentary “Super Size Me.”
Did you know that there’s a rat for every person in New York City (at least 8.2 million)? Rats evolve 10 times faster than human beings, making them the most successful species on the planet. And that a rat can carry 5 million deadly viruses on just one of its hands—and be immune to every last one? If you live in a big city like New York, chances are you’re already aware that you’re simply a guest in the future nocturnal kingdom of the Rats of NIMH. (Emily Buder – nofilmschool).
Watch the trailer below:
A history of rat infestations in major cities throughout the world.
Rats, which premiered at TIFF 2016, raucous Midnight Madness screenings, Fantastic Fest 2016. And will be shown on the Discovery Channel starting from October 22nd, and plays at IDFA 18 till 25 november. The film partly inspired by Spurlock’s frustration with the limitations of traditional movie genres, and his desire to create a documentary that could easily double up as a horror movie. And I can honestly say achieved that with this film. (Rebecca Hawkes – telegraph)
“What if we made a documentary as creepy, as scary, as weird, as dark, as uncomfortable as a typical horror film?”
Spurlock explains in an interview with No Film School. “They’re infinitely more about the tension and the drama. What you can build up, making you scared of what might happen versus what’s actually going to happen. I think there’s a lot of moments in the movie where there is nothing happening but there is real tension because you’re just waiting, whether it be for a rat to jump out or the night rat killers to find their prey. It’s great.”
Morgan Spurlock visits the Karni Mata Hindu temple in Rajasthan, India, at one point. At first glance, this temple in northern India looks like any other. But this temple also houses other deities. And there’s not one…not two…but more than 15,000 of them inside. Welcome to the rat temple.
Part of Emily Buder, NFS, September 15, 2016 interview:
NFS: What would you like to see in the future of documentary?
Spurlock: I feel like it’s such a good time now because there are so many good places for docs to play. On the heels of the success of HBO and Showtime and Netflix… more people watch what we make on Netflix now, which is phenomenal. I think that it’s a great time to make these types of movies. What I would love to see is to continuing to have that consumption. Put them in a much more valuable commercial space. Better theatricals, better access to those types of movies. Now is the best time ever to be making documentary films.
“Now is the best time ever to be making documentary films.”
International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA)
During IDFA2016 (Amsterdam, November 16 – 27), creative documentaries take centre stage. Since its launch in 1988 IDFA has been one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals, dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of ground-breaking creative documentaries.
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The complete film list for IDFA 2016 is now online!
Photo credit: Warrior Poets/Submarine/Discovery Communications/ TIFF 2016.