The Last Sacrifice + Q&A

Q&A with Director Rupert Russell

Rupert Russell’s wild ride documentary The Last Sacrifice uncovers thereal-lifewitchcraft killing that inspired The Wicker Man and birthed the folk horror genre. This unsettling true-crime interrogation unlocks the perverse cultural undercurrents that shaped the genre from its murderous beginnings to its modern-day resurrection. This is a journey that gets under the skin of British polite society, that slays with pride, kills with prejudice and exposes an island nation’s dark heart to reveal The Wicker Man ismore fact than fiction.

Rupert Russell is an award-winning writer, director and author. His documentary feature debut, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF, won the Audience Award at the SlamdanceFilm Festival and was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Film of the Year’Award during Berlinale 2019. His animated docuseries HOW THE WORLD WENT MAD premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest and earned him a spot on the shortlist for the Young Director Award at Cannes Lions. His investigation into commodities and conflict, PRICE WARS, was both a feature-documentary that aired on ARTE, and a book published by Doubleday at Penguin Random House. Last September, he premiered his latest feature doc, THE LAST SACRIFICE, on the true-life ‘witchcraft’ murder that inspired THE WICKER MAN and helped invent folk horror. He is currently in production on a new feature doc, MAD DAD, about his father, the late director Ken Russell, which includes interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Oliver Stone, Kathleen Turner, Pete Townshend, Twiggy, and many more. He is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and has directed commercials celebrating Pride for HSBC.