Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, 2021

Dawn Breaks behind the eyes is a Ger­man hor­ror film direct­ed by Kevin Kopac­ka star­ring Fred­erik von Lüt­tichau, Anna Plat­en, Jeff Wilbusch and Luisa Taraz. The film is a homage to the Euro­pean Goth­ic Hor­ror films of the ’60s. It pre­miered at Fright­fest UK 2021, won six times for best fea­ture and screened at over 30 fes­ti­vals world­wide.

Hav­ing just inher­it­ed a run down cas­tle, a dispir­it­ed woman (Luisa Taraz) and her ill-tem­pered hus­band (Fred­erik von Lüt­tichau) decide to spend the night, as time and real­i­ty slow­ly starts to shift around them.

The Guardian: “It has the poten­tial of becom­ing a cult favorite.”

The New York Times: “Fans of Mario Bava’s Goth­ic melo­dra­mas will be in heav­en.”

IMDB Buy at Ama­zon Sum­mery via Wikipedia

  • Pre­miered at Lon­don Fright­fest 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Per­for­mance (Fred­erik von Lüt­tichau) – Night­mares Film Fes­ti­val 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Fea­ture Film – Buenos Aires Rojo San­gre 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Fea­ture Film – Be Afraid Hor­ror Fest 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Fea­ture Film – Drac­u­la Film Fes­ti­val 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Fea­ture Film Award – Pump­kin Fan­ta­sy Film Fes­ti­val 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Fea­ture Film – Phe­nom­e­na Film Fes­ti­val 2022
  • Win­ner – Best Cin­e­matog­ra­phy – Fea­ture – FilmQuest 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Cin­e­matog­ra­phy – Buenos Aires Rojo San­gre 2021
  • Win­ner – Best Cin­e­matog­ra­phy – Raven­heart Inter­na­tion­al Film Fes­ti­val 2022
  • Win­ner – Best Set Design – Nev­er­more Film Fes­ti­val 2021

“Fans of Mario Bava’s Goth­ic melo­dra­mas will be in heav­en.”

The New York Times — Erik Piepen­burg

“It has the poten­tial of becom­ing a cult favorite.”

The Guardian — Phuong Le

“ A gor­geous, ethe­re­al movie full of sur­pris­ing twists that deft­ly shift gen­res.”

Bloody Dis­gust­ing — John Squires

“Ele­gant­ly direct­ed, impres­sive­ly real­ized, ultra-styl­ish homage to ‘60s and ‘70s Euro-Goth­ic hor­ror.”

Screen Anar­chy — Mel Valentin

“A tech­ni­cal mas­ter­piece made even rich­er by a com­pelling nar­ra­tive.” 

The Hol­ly­wood News — Kat Hugh­es

“This indie high­light is the best thing that could hap­pen to Ger­man film.”

JohnoftheDead — Moviepi­lot
  • Cast Anna Plat­en — Eva Ziehnagel
    Jeff Will­bush — Gre­gor Grause
    Luisa Taraz — Mar­got & Lilith
    Fred­erik von Lüt­tichau — Dieter & Klaus
    Christo­pher Ramm — Willi
    Ele­na Gomez Alvarez — Mar­i­on
    Bill Beck­er — Sand­wich
    Robert Nick­isch — Rolf
    Max Cramer — Bernd
  • Direc­tor Kevin Kopac­ka
  • Writ­ers & Pro­duc­ers Kevin Kopac­ka, Lili Vil­lányi
  • Pro­duc­tion Com­pa­ny SYLENTEYE Films
  • Edi­tor Kevin Kopac­ka
  • Direc­tor of pho­tog­ra­phy Lukas Dol­gn­er
  • Gaffer Fred­er­ic Adam
  • Cos­tume Design
    Tere­sa Gross­er
  • Set Dec­o­ra­tion Rani Mes­sias
  • Make Up Eka­te­ri­na Feil, Lili Vil­lányi
  • Com­posers Kevin Kopac­ka, Jens Hecht
  • Sound Ste­fan Kraatz, Jens Hecht
  • Spe­cial Effects Robert Franz
  • Music


     The Düs­sel­dorf Düster­boys, Liq­uid Brain Orches­tra, Aud­hen­tik, For Those Who Still Exist