Black Sunday Confessions – Joe D’Ovidio, writer-director of ‘A Drive at Dawn’

Our Five Black Sunday Confessions series continues tonight with writer-director Joe D’Ovidio and his striking short A Drive at Dawn, which screened today at the Black Sunday Film Festival.

A silent supernatural neo-western starring Eric Lampaert, A Drive at Dawn follows three men as they drive into the desert at night to confront something unspoken and deeply unsettling. The film’s horror is quiet and patient, revealing itself slowly as the darkness closes in. Built on mood, restraint and implication, it is a short that rewards attention and absolutely demands the biggest screen possible.

After premiering at Fantaspoa in Brazil, the film has gone on to enjoy an exceptional international festival run, playing at major genre events and award-qualifying festivals around the world. For D’Ovidio, who grew up in Somerset and now works from Los Angeles, tonight’s Black Sunday screening carries particular weight. Having been championed for the festival after a screening at Dead Northern, the US-shot film returns home to a UK audience.

Ahead of tonight’s screening, Joe D’Ovidio took part in Five Black Sunday Confessions, reflecting on VHS-era beginnings, formative cinematic shocks, and the kind of franchise horror he hopes never to see.

Joe D’Ovidio, writer-director

1. Tell us about your film and what brings it to the Black Sunday Film Festival.

A Drive at Dawn is a slow-burn, silent neo-western mystery starring Eric Lampaert—and it absolutely demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible! Its horror is quiet and creeping, and its mystery slowly reveals itself as the night unfolds. The film premiered at Fantaspoa in Brazil and has gone on to have an incredible festival run. We’re deeply thankful to the Black Sunday programmer who caught it at Dead Northern and championed it for us. Black Sunday’s curation is second to none, and as a filmmaker from Somerset it’s amazing to have our US-shot film play at home!

2. What moment made you realise you wanted to create films, not just watch them?

I grew up at the very end of the VHS era. Every Christmas I’d circle the films I wanted to tape off TV and plan it all out like a little seven-year-old TV executive. I had six tapes, carefully curated, with films paired “for tone” and timings worked out to the minute.

There were always a few minutes left over, so I filled them by filming toy intros. Beetlejuice patiently explaining to the Terminator why Eddie Murphy was so cool. Then: Beverly Hills Cop. My family’s reaction to these surprise intros gave me the bug, I think.

3. What was the first film that truly unsettled you?

It’s a toss up between Hellraiser and Cronenberg’s Crash, both of which I saw at 13 years old, arguably the perfect age. The pleasure in the pain, my God! It was terribly confusing and fascinating. Their humour was a little too adult for me to register at the time. All I saw was the reckless self-destruction in pursuit of sexual pleasure!

4. Who would be your dream collaborator, living or dead?

Nicole Kidman, living.

5. If your worst fear became a film, what would it look like?

A prequel where the truly scary monster from the original plays a good guy, and they have to team up with a teenager who talks like a 30 year old. The monster reveals how they got the jumper they were wearing in the first film, and together they defeat an even bigger monster who is made up of CG.

A Drive at Dawn screened today at the Black Sunday Film Festival. Keep checking back with Love Horror for more interviews, filmmaker insights and festival coverage as our Five Black Sunday Confessions series continues throughout the weekend.