@LunaDiPas
LUANA DI PASQUALE
award-winning writer/director
“My indie filmmaking journey has been anchored by an unwavering commitment to the female gaze
– with a mission to tear apart the still-normalised patriarchal objectification of women in films,
and to promote healing and social change through the transformative power of storytelling.”
ARCHIVES
Horror
"Keep Mum" is a horror short film that illuminates the often-overlooked reality
of children as the true, unseen victims of domestic violence."
Title: "KEEP MUM"
Duration: 15 minutes
Genre: Arthouse, Psychological Horror, Experimental
Synopsis: A drunken woman lays waste to her family home, her past
shadows haunting her, thrusting her into a tumult of emotions and
projections as she struggles to unravel the events of the previous night
and the fate of Danny, her son. "Keep Mum" delves into the psyche of a
mother pushed to the brink of sanity, probing the depths of her turmoil
and desperation.
Set during Christmas time on the South-east coast of England, "Keep
Mum" takes its audience on a 24-hour journey entrenched in the secrecy
of domestic violence, unveiling what lies behind a seemingly happy family
photograph.
KEEP MUM is a British short film written, directed and co-produced by
Luana Di Pasquale (Lunadipas Films) with Lisa Turnbull (Reblis Films) in
association with QareyFilm.
It stars a real-life mother and son: Nadira and Cameron Murray KEEP
MUM was officially selected in 33 Horror Genre Film Festivals around the
world, had 14 Nominees and won 9 Awards.
OREGON SCREAM WEEK HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2019
Portland (USA)
THE TRAILER FILM FESTIVAL 2019
Hollywood (USA)
ANDROMEDA FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Istanbul (Turkey)
HALICARNASSUS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Bodrum (Turkey)
THE CINEMA FEMME SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Chicago (USA)
FEMME FILMMAKERS FILM FESTIVAL 2020
London (UK)
THE AUSTIN AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Austin,TEXAS (USA)
10th NOLA HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020
New Orleans ( USA) NOLA Horror Film Festival
ranked one of the 50 Best Genre Film Festivals of 2020
by MovieMaker Magazine.
15th SPOOKY MOVIE INTERNATIONAL
HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020
(Washington, USA)
14th ATLANTA HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020
(Atlanta, USA)
HELLIFAX HORROR FEST 2020
(Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
SCARED FOR YOUR LIIFE 2020
(Long Island, USA)
THE DARK HEDGES INTERNATIONAL
HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020
(Belfast, UK)
THE ANATOMY OF CRIME & HORROR
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020
(Athens, Greece)
THE HORROR OF DAMNED FILM FESTIVAL 2020
(Milan, Italy)
THE HORROR MOVIE AWARDS 2020
(Seattle, GB)
THE CANADIAN CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARDS 2020
(CaCA, Toronto, Canada)
NEW YORK CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARDS 2020
(NYC, USA)
XXIII IKUSKA 2020
(Pasajes, Basque Country)
OFFICIAL SELECTION (NON-COMPETITION)
OFFICIAL SELECTION 2019-2020
THE MAVERICK AWARDS 2020
Los Angeles California, USA
JELLY FEST 2021
Los Angeles, California, USA
WALLACHIA INT'L FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Bucharest, Romania
RAMSGATE INTERNATIONAL FILM A& TV FESTIVAL 2021
Ramsgate, UK
UNRESTRICTED VIEW 2021
London, UK
BELIEVE PSYCHOLOGY FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Pasadena, California, USA
SCI-FI, TERROR AND FANTASY FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Bogota,Colombia
RUSSIAN INTERNATIONAL HORROR FILM AWARDS 2021
Moscow, Russia
26th PORTOBELLO FILM FESTIVAL 2021
London, UK
THE DARK ARTS FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Amsterdam, Netherlands
ROCK HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Rio De Jeneiro, Brazil
AX WOUND FILM FESTIVAL 2021
Vermont, USA
10th - 19th December 2021
AX WOUND FILM FESTIVAL is ranked #2 out of the 30 Bloody Best
Genre Film Festivals in the World by MovieMaker Magazine 2019!!!
OFFICIAL SELECTION 2020-2021
AWARDS
Best International Director Award, Oregon Scream Week Horror Film Festival 2019 (Portland,USA)
Best Actress Award, Halicarnassus International Film Festival 2020 (Bodrum, Turkey)
Jury Special Film Award, Andromeda Film Festival 2020 (Istanbul, Turkey).
Gold Tier for Best Disturbing Films, Horror Movie Awards 2020 (Seattle, USA)
Gold Tier for Best Short Performance, Horror Movie Awards 2020 (Seattle, USA)
Best Horror/Thriller Film, Canadian Cinematography Awards 2020 (CaCA, Toronto, Canada)
Best Experimental Film, New York Cinematography Awards 2021 (NYCA, USA)
Best Actress Award, 26th Portobello Film Festival 2021 (London, UK)
Special Mention for Best Thriller, Dark Arts Film Festival 2021( Amsterdam, Netherlands)
NOMINEE
For Best Female Director Nola Horror International Film Festival 2020 (New Orleans, USA)
Best Actress, Nola Horror International Film Festival 2020 (New Orleans, USA)
Best Picture Award, Austin After Dark Film Festival 2020 (Austin, USA),
Best Cinematography Award, Femme Filmmakers Festival 2020 (London)
Best Drama Award, Atlanta Horror International Film Festival 2020 (Atlanta, USA)
Best Actress Award, Anatomy of Crime-Horror International Film Festival 2020 (Athens,Greece).
Best Editing Award, The Unrestricted View Film Festival 2021(London, UK)
Best Score Award, The Unrestricted View Film Festival 2021 (London, UK)
The Si Spencer Award, The Unrestricted View Film Festival 2021(London, UK)
Best Ensemble Performance, The Maverick Awards (Los Angeles, USA)
Special Achievement Sound Designing, The Maverick Awards (Los Angeles, USA)
Best Actress Award, 26th Portobello Film Festival 2021 (London, UK)
Best Acting Award, The Dark Arts Film Festival 2021(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Best Thriller Award, The Dark Arts Film Festival 2021 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
SEMIFINALIST
World of Film International Festival Glasgow 20 (Scotland, UK)
Cyrus International Film Festival 20 (Toronto, Canada)
The Optical Theatre Horror Film Festival 20 (Rome, Italy)
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival 21 (Rhode Island, USA)
Renegade Film Festival 22 (Atlanta,USA)
MORBIDLY BEAUTIFUL - With very little dialogue but some powerful visual imagery, Keep Mum compresses a
24-hour journey into a nightmarish and thoroughly engrossing 15-minute mystery that is chilling, disorienting,
and dread-inducing."
UK FILM REVIEW - "For a horror short film, KEEP MUM is an impressive piece.For a debut, Di Pasquale
has worked miracles and instantly carved her name into the genre and the industry as one to watch."
THE INDEPENDENT LONDON HORROR SOCIETY -"Writer/ Director Luana Di Pasquale serves up a compact,
clever and haunting little tale with KEEP MUM. This psychological pieceapplies the adage of ‘less is more’
perfectly, and results in a fantastic example of British indie horror done right.”
BRITFLICKS- "Claustrophobic, haunting and surreal, KEEP MUM is a psychological thriller/horror
that packs a feminist punch."-
SCREENSILVERBLACK - “Luana Di Pasquale’s ‘KEEP MUM’ is the kind of film that never stops erupting.
No matter how many times you watch it, Iwill always scorch your heart, a horror classic."
VOICEMAGUK - KEEP MUM: A fresh take on the horror genre."
FILMOTOMY - "KEEP MUM explores the dark and the light of our psychology. A film sprinkled with horror,
surrealism, and anticipation, involving its audience by holding them against a wall and
then throwing them to the ground."
FILM-FORUMS - "KEEP MUM journeys into the horror/psychological thriller genres, taking the audience
on a real emotional roller-coaster."
FEMME FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL -"Di Pasquale is a woman to watch. She has already shown herself to be a
director with a precise awareness of what she wants to convey with her camera. She is sure to continue to gain
more recognition with her future projects."
THE CULT OF THE CINEMA - "KEEP MUM is no phantasmal horror film,but a true-life horror story, one which
echos throughout the global."-
CLOSEUP CULTURE - "Whether you pick this film to see what the fuss is all about, or take the time to learn and
understand the story behind it,it is one to remember."
TOM DENMAN -”A shovel, a bloodied shirt, a cliff, a teddy bear oozing blood, an "accident" - as the film
progresses, it's up to us to join the dots..."
PRESS
THE WOMEN’S DIRECTION - “Life Made me become a Film Writer/Director”
THE CUT FRAME MAGAZINE - "KEEP MUM is an Orchestra of Inner Torment."
ABOUT INSIDER - "Beyond the Limit: Keep Mum by Luana Di Pasquale.”
HORROR NEWS - "KEEP MUM TRAILER RELEASE"
STRANGE CITY DIGEST - INTERVIEW:"Writer/Director Luana Di Pasquale offers
insight into the harrowing, award-winning psychological horror, Keep Mum"
BEATS VOXING MAYHEM -"Final Girls: KEEP MUM."
BLOOD GUTS UK HORROR - “Award winning short KEEP MUM makes official selection
at Axwound Film Festival"
MOVIE-BLOGGER - “Will the audience KEEP MUM about it? "
PODCAST: Fierce Female Filmmakers Alexandra Boyd, the con-founder of Artemisia's Daughter,
is in conversation with award winning filmmaker Luana Di Pasquale who explains her journey
to filmmaking. Available on Apple, Amazon, Podtail, Spotify
CONVERSATION ABOUT HER - INTERVIEW: "Keep Mum seeks to continue to fight against abuse."
TOM DENMAN -"Christmas thrills - the frenzied oscillation of memories, images and sensations
that swarm the trauma-afflicted psyche"
PRESS
Women Make Horror panel at DHIFF
BanterFlix’s Victoria Brown hosts a special panel for the Dark
Hedges International Film Festival about women and the horror
genre.This panel includes filmmakers Aislinn Clarke,
VanessaIonta Wright and Luana Di Pasquale.
HERSTORY
Born in Italy and bred in London, UK, Luana's vivid imagination flourished from an early age. As a child, she began writing her short stories and
drawing them, a talent that earned her a Walt Disney prize in elementary school for creating a new character which was a zebra sheep with wings.
Her passion for drawing and creating stories has never waned. What was meant to be a short three-month holiday to London turned into a life-
changing experience when destiny led her to pursue filmmaking at the London College of Communication (UAL) where she graduated with honours
in 2005 as a writer and director, producing her first psychological horror film, INTERFERENCE, in Italy.
Following the success of her graduation film, Luana began her career as a freelance self-shooting producer/director and editor. One of her early
projects included working for Vladivar Vodka, a Glaswegian vodka brand under Whyte & Mackay, creating their online video campaign chronicling
the adventures of Belgian artist Wim Spaghetti as he infused his bottle designs with his playful "Manchild Spirit."Three years later, she
transitioned into documentary filmmaking for Current TV, experimenting with different narrative styles while exploring the female gaze. Her short
docs covered diverse social issues, including the journey of a woman overcoming drug addiction and the exploitation of women in the porn industry,
as seen through the eyes of Anna Span, the UK’s first female porn director. This commitment to the female gaze became a defining theme in
Luana’s work, further solidified through her collaborations with the New York-based feminist collective Guerrilla Girls on Tour. She then expanded
her storytelling skills into lifestyle television, producing and directing Love Talk, a 18-episode series broadcast on Record TV (Sky), which explored
gender dynamics in the context of love and relationships.
Despite the success of her freelance work, Luana felt drawn back to her first love—genre filmmaking. In 2018, she founded Lunadipas Films and
wrote, directed, and co-produced KEEP MUM, a 15-minute psychological horror about domestic trauma, in partnership with Reblis Films and
QareyFilm. The film earned critical acclaim and numerous accolades from horror film festivals worldwide, including Best International Director at the
Oregon Scream Week Horror Film Festival in 2019.
Currently, Luana is developing her debut feature film—another psychological horror—under her newly established company, BAD GIRL//GOOD
WOMAN FILMS. She is also a proud member of CUT THROAT WOMEN, a database of women in horror. Over the past three years, Luana Di
Pasquale has served as a judge for the Irish horror short film strand at The Dark Edge International Genre Film Festival ( https://dhiff.com), based
in Belfast.
In addition to her filmmaking endeavours, Luana mentors aspiring filmmakers through her workshop, The Arts & Craft of Cinematic Storytelling,
funded by the Arts Council.
Interference
Title: "Interference"
Duration: 10 minutes
Genre: Arthouse, Psychological Horror, Experimental
In "Interference," Luana Di Pasquale presents her graduation
project at the London College of Communication 05 (UAL),
exploring trauma and its harrowing interferences in the psyche of a
woman who is about to turn mother. The story revolves around
Isabella, who finds herself rendered speechless by the trauma of
losing her husband. Right after having given birth, buried memories
resurface and nightmares torment her, viewers are drawn into
puzzling of what happened to her. Ultimately, it's the arrival of her
firstborn child that compels Isabella to break her silence, rebirthing
with PAOLO, revealing the depth of her loss, her grief. It was filmed
in Italy, starring Lauretta Lewis, Daniel Ducruet and Lucrezia
Leveque.
Interference was shown at the NFT during 2005/06/07 where she
held a Q & A in front of an audience of 600 people. It was also
shown at the UNCUT session at the ICA in, where she held another
Q & A in front of an audience of 100 people. It was also showcased
at the Portobello Film Festival 05.
0.0s
Interference
Interference
Bad Girl//Good Woman Films
Coming SoOn