Hard Light Cinema

🌟 NEW RELEASES

A romantic vacation goes awry when a volcanic eruption strands Bethany (Charli xcx) and her soon-to-be fiancé, Rob (Will Madden) in Warsaw, Poland. Bethany takes the explosive event as a sign to ditch her baggage, reunite with childhood friend Nel (Lena Góra) and traipse across lofts, clubs and back alleys, all the while becoming entangled in an emotional web that challenges her sense of self.

From American maverick Pete Ohs, who wrote, directed, edited, photographed, and produced this dizzyingly charming European postcard, comes Erupcja, a delightful anti-romantic comedy about the pains and pleasures of being in love.

Picture this:

It’s May 8, 2024, around 4am. playwright/actor Jeremy O’Harris and filmmaker Pete Ohs are at a bar in the lower east side of Manhattan, discussing … whatever it is filmmakers and collaborators discuss at 4am. Jeremy sees his friend, Charli xcx, come into the bar. She’s excited to see him, he’s excited to see her, and he introduces her to Pete Ohs. Pete and Jeremy have made a few movies together at this point, and he starts preaching the so called gospel of Pete Ohs’s filmmaking style to Charli. Ohs works fast, on a low budget, and always with his friends. He describes his style as being adjacent to Hong Sangsoo: have a rough outline, write scenes in the morning, shoot the scenes in the daytime/evening, sleep, and repeat. Charli, growing increasingly more interested in film than music, says this sounds so fun and fantastic and asks if she can be in one. Ohs says yes. Ohs DMs her that night, and they begin collaborating on what will become Erupcja. 2 days after they meet, Charli xcx’s song and music video for “360” comes out.

Cut to August of 2024, and Ohs, O’Harris, XCX, and actors Will Madden and Lena Gora all head to Warsaw for two weeks to make the film that will become Erupcja. They know it will be a relationship drama about a couple on holiday in Warsaw. They know it will be about xcx’s character Bethany feeling constrained by her boring heterosexual relationship and seeking the refuge of her old friend (lover? it’s deliciously unclear) Nel. What they don’t know is how it will end. They also don’t know that Mt. Aetna will be erupting, delaying all air travel. This is where Pete Ohs’s process comes in handy, as this volcanic eruption was weaved into the storyline and became the central idea of the film.

Erupcja is an exciting film, made collaboratively and with an infectious sense of freedom. It’s one of four (yes, Four) movies that Pete Ohs has coming out this year. It’s a genuinely independent production, made by a small team and shot over the course of two weeks. The actors all received co-writing credits as they helped craft the story together. They all go thrifting for their own costumes as a way of developing their character. The camera work and editing style is at times reminiscent of French New Wave films. It’s the kind of movie that makes you want to pick up a camera and start shooting. So often we have this internalized sense of gatekeeping about cinema, and that only the chosen few get the opportunity to make movies. Ohs’s work suggests a beautiful alternative: that everyone Can make movies, and everyone Should make movies. It’s a breath of fresh air, and one we’re excited to be showcasing with Hard Light.

We hope to see you there! 🌋👭❤️‍🔥

— Lewis Peterson, Hard Light Cinema