Ergot

KJ, a strict and controlling boss, runs the night shift at a wheat mill. Ruling over his industrial empire like a god. In his state, he is so far gone that he became one with the machinery around him, controlling everything, including his own inner world. Yet beneath this surface of order lies unresolved grief: as a child, KJ caused a tragic accident that led to the death of his sister. This trauma lives on in a secret he keeps hidden—a small wheat doll he takes out each night when he’s alone. On this night, something changes. It is extremely hot, and a single drop of KJ’s sweat falls on the doll, transforming it into a wheat demon. At the same time, a strange malfunction disrupts the mill. From here on we follow KJ, trying to remain in control, encountering the growing wheat demon, while the mill is rapidly breaking down around him. By the end, KJ, with no other place to hide, escapes into a grain silo. There, left alone with the realisation of what he has become, his repressed grief consumes him.

Director’s statement
My grandfather worked as a foreman at the flour mill in Kanjiza, Serbia. He was a very strict and controlling man in his job, which extended into his personal life. His rules and opinions formed a system of control around him that has left a lasting impact on me, and sometimes, I recognize traces of him in my own behavior. Control, whether over ourselves or our surroundings, can be a tempting response to inner traumas and fears. And the loss of that same control can awaken the most elemental kind of fear. For this reason, horror—specifically psychological horror, which deals with monsters that come from within—was the natural choice for telling my story. In this film I want to explore a man who believes he is in control. And as that control unravels, and repressed traumas resurface, I want to show how that control disappears, and with it everything else.