EXCLUSIVE: UK and France-based sales firm Alief has struck a deal with U.S. distributor Dark Star Pictures for North American distribution rights to Snapshot, the UK found-footage horror film which debuted at the Edinburgh Film Festival earlier this year.
Director Joseph Archer’s film, starring Tom Stourton, who co-wrote and starred in the 2021 feature All My Friends Hate Me, co-stars Cathy Wippell with Hazel Rogers, Lydia Helen, Nadia Lamin, Rosie-Bella Johnson, Ishtar Currie-Wilson and Freya Parks.
Dark Star is planning an early 2027 theatrical release, followed by a digital release.
The film, which is described as a mixture of horror documentary and gothic noir, made its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2026, then played at Frightfest London in August, and will next play at Thessaloniki International film festival in November.
Pic is set in 1888, “the year Jack the Ripper killings begin. An amateur inventor played by Tom Stourton creates the first moving image machine to follow the work of an all-ladies ghost-hunting society who believe the gruesome murders across East London are not being carried out by a man, but a monster. Welcome to the Victorian world of misinformation, fake news and the sensationalist journalism of the era when fabricated stories helped to sell more papers.”
Michael Repsch negotiated the deal on behalf of Dark Star Pictures with Miguel Govea, Partner and Brett Walker President of Alief.
“A dynamic debut film from director Joseph Archer, Snapshot reimagines the found-footage genre through 1880s London during the height of the Jack the Ripper murders with a stunning conceit. Shot in a unique pinhole camera style, 1:1 aspect ratio, creating a disturbing Victorian- era whodunit following a female ghost-hunting community searching for answers to an otherworldly mystery.” said Jim Brunzell, Director of Festivals & Theatrical of Dark Star Pictures. “Dark Star Pictures is thrilled to share Snapshot, a truly original film, which is sure to entertain and scare the hell out of audiences in North America.”
The producers are Archer and Cathy Wippell’s UK company Silicon Gothic. Minority co-producers and financiers are Germany’s Fieber Film, India’s TrainTripper and Canada’s Serge Cedrick Films.