Peterborough poet Jon Hedderwick and a team of independent Peterborough-based filmmakers are creating a short film called Enkidu, adapted from Hedderwick’s play of the same name which itself is based on a character from the world’s oldest surviving piece of literature, and are launching a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of shooting the film.
Hedderwick will also perform the title role in Enkidu, which is being co-written and directed by Zachary Barmania, with Ayesha Lye as executive producer and Rob Viscardis as cinematographer. The film’s score will be composed by garbageface (a.k.a. Karol Orzechowski), who also composed and performed the score for the original play.
“This project is deeply personal,” says Hedderwick, who premiered his play at The Theatre on King in downtown Peterborough in January 2023. “It’s a rare gift to perform work so close to my heart, with a team that believes in its vision.”
The team is launching a campaign on Kickstarter to raise $4,200 to complete principal photography for Enkidu, which will be set in a deep and lightless limestone cave in Ontario.
“The opportunity to film scenes deep underground in a cave setting presents a rare and thrilling challenge,” Viscardis says. “I’m eager to bring light, mood, and atmosphere to an environment that, in its natural state, offers none.”
The $4,200 in funds will be used for a two-day shoot in the cave and a one-day studio shoot, with filming scheduled to take place from October 16 to 18.
“I was inspired by the compelling themes, beautiful prose, and potential for a dynamic video adaptation,” Lye says. “We have done rigorous planning to make sure our film is feasible within the cave, including three site visits and a test shoot.”
Enkidu is one of the central figures in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in ancient Mesopotamia between 2100 and 1200 BC and regarded as a foundational work in religion and the tradition of heroic sagas.
Created by the gods to stop the Urak king Gilgamesh from oppressing his people, Enkidu embodies the wild or natural world and is depicted as being part man and part bull. After the sacred prostitute Shamhat tames Enkidu, he travels to Uruk to challenge Gilgamesh to a contest of strength. While Gilgamesh wins, the two become friends and later kill the Bull of Heaven, after which the gods sentence Enkidu to death and kill him.
In Hedderwick’s original play, the once mighty Enkidu is trapped in the subterranean afterlife of ancient Sumer. He lingers between worlds, tethered to the past by failing memories and unable or unwilling to let go. If he can remember — if he can assemble the dream house and complete the ritual — perhaps the gods will send him a good dream and show him the way back to his life with Gilgamesh.
According to a media release, the film adaptation of Hedderwick’s play will be “a psychological fantasy horror” that “explores mental illness, grief, identity, and sexuality through stylized visuals and haunting sound design.”
“Enkidu’s memories come to life around him through highly stylized imagery,” says Barmania. “It will be simple, but large scale.”
“Enkidu becomes a call to reimagine our relationship with the Earth,” reads the media release. “By weaving ancient wisdom into a cinematic narrative, the film offers a powerfully emotional entry point into environmental awareness, sexuality, and mental health; inspiring viewers to be guided in their search for balance and understanding by things that are bigger, deeper and older than we are.”
The Kickstarter for Enkidu will launch on Thursday (August 28) at kickstarter.com/projects/jonthepoet/enkidu-short-film.
“The all-or-nothing campaign offers unique, locally crafted perks — handwritten postcards from set, stickers, premiere invitations, a custom hoodie, and handcrafted model Dreamhouses made by Hedderwick himself,” according to the release.
