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Welcome to Morcan Books & Films, the blog devoted to providing a unique perspective and intelligent commentary on books and films. It includes commentary on our own books and films – i.e. novels and screenplays co-written by the Morcans, and feature films produced by, or in development with, Morcan Motion Pictures.
Lance & James
Writer-director James Morcan says, “In Anno 2020, we cover many subjects about the year 2020 that Hollywood productions would never be allowed to say.”
Think you know what 2020 is all about? Think again…
Here’s the trailer for this contentious movie.
ANNO 2020 is streaming free now on YouTube. To see what the film critics are saying about this contentious movie go to: https://www.youtube.com/@ANNO2020TheMovie …and feel free to subscribe!
Our thanks to the Florida-based team at the popular Movie Talks & Chill podcast for allowing writer/director James Morcan to discuss our new release mystery-drama ANNO 2020 – the contentious movie some would prefer no-one ever sees.
Meet the amazing team at Movie Talks & Chill podcast.
Spanning seventeen cities and five countries on four continents, ANNO 2020 is a global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, answers and justice amidst the chaos of Anno MMXX (Year 2020).
This epic movie, filmed around the world during the Covid lockdowns of 2020-21, is suitable for family viewing and can be viewed free on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nr2h-AMV-c
Sterling Gate Books’ mystery-drama tale ANNO 2020, now a contentious feature film as well as a published novel, is New Zealand-Australian writer-director James Morcan’s latest book-to-film project.
A screenwriter and novelist, James adapted the ANNO 2020 screenplay from his novel; after sellout cinema screenings in three Australian states, the resulting feature film is now poised to celebrate its global streaming premiere on YouTube and other streaming platforms.
Readers are resonating with ANNO 2020 the novel as a visit to its Amazon pages show. Billed as “A global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, answers and justice amidst the chaos of Anno MMXX (Year 2020),” it’s gathering stellar reviews and currently enjoys a 4.5 out of 5 stars review rating.
James Morcan’s latest novel now available via Amazon as a paperback, hardcover and Kindle ebook.
U.S. arts aficionado Grady Harp writes, “Incorporating his skills developed in the cinematic field, both in acting and in screenwriting, James has created a global panoply of beautifully defined stances and characters to bring attention to the manner in which we all coped with the pandemic. His richly colorful locales include, Bali, Palestine, Brazil, Israel, Australia, China, the UK, USA, and Switzerland, and in each scene he has developed a myriad of personalities to offer as many perceptions of the pandemic and its effect on relationships as possible.”
The movie adaptation of ANNO 2020 is just one of several book-to-film projects James is associated with – as a visit to his IMDb film industry page will show… https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1909596/
Morcan novels currently in development as feature films include Silent Fear, The Heathrow Affair, Into the Americas and High Country Contract among others. Co-authored by Lance and James Morcan, these and other novels of the father-and-son writing team have been adapted to movie scripts with James directing.
Expectations build for ANNO 2020 the movie as the countdown toward its September 13 global streaming release continues.
Spanning 17 cities and five countries on four continents, this controversial mystery-drama is a global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, forgiveness and answers amidst the chaos of Anno MMXX (Year 2020).
Saturday September 13 is D-Day for the controversial mystery-drama movie ANNO 2020. That’s when it screens on YouTube and other streaming platforms including Odysee, Daily Motion and Rumble. And that’s when movie-lovers get the chance to see why film industry gatekeepers have tried to block this feature film and why they and others might prefer no-one ever sees it.
YouTube premiere of ANNO 2020.
Shot around the world in 2020 despite the lockdowns, mandates and travel restrictions, ANNO 2020 contains underground knowledge regarding things that were suppressed or underreported in mainstream media. Things such as COVID-19 vaccine mandates, job losses, business failures, marriage breakdowns, side-effects of the lockdowns and separation from loved ones.
It’s a classic example of pure indie filmmaking in the truest sense; it’s also an example of brave filmmaking, undertaken against all odds at a time when few international feature films were being made; and it’s a credit to producer Gil Ben-Moshe, writer-director James Morcan and the entire cast & crew of ANNO 2020.
The mystery-drama ANNO 2020, soon to premiere on global streaming platforms, has been meticulously subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) as well as for numerous foreign language audiences. However, for this epic movie’s writer-director James Morcan, ANNO 2020 is not his first foray into catering for HoH viewers.
Subtitles and sign language also feature prominently in SILENT FEAR, a crime thriller which James and his father Lance co-wrote and adapted from their co-authored novel of the same name. It’s set in a London university for the Deaf where students are locked down during a deadly virus outbreak.
Both the SILENT FEAR novel and subsequent screenplay adaptation were written under the valued guidance of leading New Zealand Deaf filmmaker Brent Macpherson. Brent will serve as Co-producer and Deaf Consultant on that movie, which James is also directing.
In ‘Comments’ at the end of the book, Brent states: “The novel provides a valuable insight into the dynamics of the international Deaf community all in one setting. (i.e. a locked down London university for the Deaf). It highlights a wide range of Deaf cultural elements and behavioural characteristics unique to members of this community.”
More about SILENT FEAR and ANNO 2020 from Deaf filmmaker Brent Macpherson himself…
Meanwhile, the countdown continues for ANNO 2020’s streaming premiere now only days away…From September 13, this movie streams on YouTube, Odysee, Daily Motion and Rumble among other streaming platforms. Watch this space!
New Zealand-Australian writer-director James Morcan, whose directorial debut movie ANNO 2020 premieres on global streaming platforms this month, insists that 99.9% of films advertised as ‘indie movies’ are non-indies and dependent on the system.
James Morcan at the Victorian cinematic premiere of ANNO 2020 in Melbourne.
“So-called ‘indie films’ often have stars or major distributors on board from the get-go, including government finance,” he says. “Often you hear these stars or filmmakers talk about ‘the difficulties of shooting indies on such a low budget’ then you find out they had millions or even tens of millions of dollars and were backed by a major corporation like Disney!”
James says the labels ‘indie’ and ‘independent’ were hijacked decades ago as the major studios recognized those terms were being perceived as cool and audiences wanted more indies, or at least films sold as such, as they sensed artists had more creative freedoms in such films.
“However, if you go back in time, ‘indie’ originally meant completely independent and outside the ‘system’, as the word implies, and not beholden to anyone or anything, where rebellious, auteur-style directors could literally say whatever they wanted to without checking first with committees or government organizations or financiers or distributors.
“Well, my film Anno 2020 was self-financed for a budget of only $6,000 USD. It is a real, true, pure indie, I promise you. And we say controversial things in it that I assure you could never have been financed by anything within the mainstream movie industry.”
James, who adapted the ANNO 2020 screenplay from his novel of the same name, says as soon as h began writing the screenplay, long before pre-production, I knew it would get zero mainstream support and would have to be done as an old-fashioned indie against all odds.
“It was obvious that was going to be near impossible as we also had an around-the-world epic story in which we were to shoot in 17 cities on four continents in four different languages. Not to mention navigating shoots around the lockdowns and other Covid restrictions during 2020-2021!
“But despite all the hardships in filming this beast, never once did my team and I ever stop to ask ourselves , ‘Are we allowed to say that?’ or ‘Will we be offending anyone?’ or anything like that. Why? Because we were actually independent and so far outside the system that we may as well have been making the movie on the Moon!”
Following a limited but very successful interstate theatrical release in Australian cinemas last year, ANNO 2020 has its world streaming premiere on September 13 on TouTube and other platforms.
As director James Morcan says, “If you yearn for the return of actual indie movies, then you may like to check it out.”
The Australian-produced epic movie ANNO 2020, soon to premiere on global streaming platforms, has been meticulously subtitled for numerous foreign language audiences.
Writer-director James Morcan says catering for foreign audiences is in keeping with a film shot around the world – in 17 cities on four continents.
“The year 2020 is a year we inhabitants of planet Earth will remember for a long time,” says James. “We were all impacted by the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and many of us experienced the lockdowns, travel restrictions and mandates associated with that event.”
Meanwhile, the countdown to the streaming launch of ANNO 2020 continues with less than two weeks before the September 13 premiere. It will stream on YouTube, Odysee, Daily Motion and Rumble among other streaming platforms. Watch this space!
This is the movie that gatekeepers have tried to block, according to New Zealand-Australian writer-director James Morcan (pictured below). He refers to ANNO 2020, the feature film he adapted from his novel of the same name and the film that represents his directorial debut.
In the following soliloquy, James reminds viewers his movie is a global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, answers and justice amidst the chaos of 2020.
“This mystery-drama contains underground knowledge regarding things that were suppressed or underreported in mainstream media, such as COVID vaccine mandates, the side-effects of the lockdowns and separation from loved ones,” says James. “(Consequently) the gatekeepers have tried to block this movie.”
James says he has documented evidence of the reactions of said gatekeepers to show any journalists or podcasters, off the record, who choose to contact him.
ANNO 2020 celebrates its global streaming premiere on September 13 on YouTube, Odysee, Daily Motion and Rumble among other streaming platforms. Watch this space!
In this engaging interview, Friends World TV podcast host Varun Tiwari questions Sydney-based director James Morcan and producers Gil and Oren Ben-Moshe about their hopes and dreams for their soon-to-be released mystery-drama ANNO 2020.
The ANNO 2020 producers are grateful to Varun for bringing ANNO 2020 to the attention of his many faithful followers, and for highlighting the movie’s upcoming (September 13) global streaming launch on YouTube and other platforms.
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