The Ghost in the Kamera

What happens when a curious little girl discovers her grandfather's old Super 8mm camera... a mystery machine haunted by the illuminating spirit of old Soviet era films?

9 year old Maya loves her toy camera and spends her holiday snapping photos in the garden. One day she discovers her Grandfather's old Soviet Super 8 camera and begins to suspect it is haunted.

The Crew

Shot over 3 days in the summer of 2017, The Ghost in the Kamera was made by a women-only crew. In a year that was soon to be tainted by the Weinstein scandal and such-like, we were forging a new way of working.

From Writer-Director Shona Dutta Charlton and DOP Pascale Neuschäfer to the 1st AD Kathryn O'Reilly, and our female cast there was always a strong positive vibe on set. In fact, make-up artist Anna Fullbrook was able to bring her baby on set. Production assistant and gifted set dresser Amber De-Terville and, later, composer Barbara J Weber completed the female crew. Sound recordist Rob and enthusiastic runner James Sharratt were often the only men on set.

The Cast

We were blessed to have two natural talents working with us.

Neither Ria nor Maria had acted in a film before. Though both had modeling experience, the rigours of continuity and hitting their mark were new to them but they rose to the challenge and delivered beautifully natural performances.

Ria Bella as Maya

Maria Mirage as Anna

Production Notes

QUESTION: How do you edit a 14 minute 4K film on a modest Mac Mini?
ANSWER: Very, very patiently.

The Ghost in the Kamera is part of a planned trilogy of ghostly films that will, hopefully, be available on an online video streaming service.

Visual Effects

The supernatural elements of the film were achieved through a combination of in-camera techniques and post-production compositing, all designed and executed by Shona.

Awards & Selections