''Morgana'' is a 2019 feature documentary about Morgana Muses, a pornographic film star in her 50s. The film is directed by

Isabel Peppard Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of ''Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popula ...

and

Josie Hess Josie may refer to: People: * Josie (name), various people and fictional characters with the given name * Edith Josie (1921-2000), Canadian writer and newspaper columnist * Peter Josie, Saint Lucia politician * Josie (stylist), Spanish stylist and ...

, and produced by Karina Astrup of

House of Gary A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. The film premiered at

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fes ...

. in August 2019.

Production

The film had a successful Kickstarter campaign that was completed in August 2017 During this time, the project was covered by

The Feed (Australian TV series) ''The Feed'' is an Australian news, current affairs and satire television series that began airing on SBS Viceland on 20 May 2013 and has continued through several series and with several changes of presenters. Broadcast history ''The Feed'' w ...

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

with

Marc Fennell Marc Fennell is an Australian film critic, technology journalist, radio personality, author and television presenter. Fennell is a co-anchor of '' The Feed'' and the host of '' Mastermind''. Career Film critic In 2002, Fennell was a winner o ...

Release

Morgana had its North American premiere at

Fantasia Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

in August 2020. The official trailer was launched as an exclusive on

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

on August 6, and the film was acquired by Juno Films on August 27.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. Michele Galgana writing for

Screen Anarchy Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

said "Filmmakers Peppard and Hess craft a fantastic documentary with a clear story, that while extraordinary, deeply relatable and touching." Anthony O'Connor writing for '' FilmInk'' said Morgana is "A poetic, moving, life-affirming yarn extolling the virtues of sex positivity and self expression."

References

{{reflist 2019 documentary films Australian documentary films