A young teacher is followed by apparitions in broad daylight.
Starring Amanda Lynette Mendez, Jessie Heesacker and Rober McKeon.
With Kristen Mackie, Valerie Geffner, Mieko Gavia, Alex Kolcheck, Glynnis Eldridge, George Day, and Eric Kelly.
Written and Directed by Matt Kohn
Shot and Edited by Matt Kohn, stills by George Day, Color Correct by Andrew Mirmanesh
Score by Stan Harrisson and Danny Tunick, Music produced by Lily Wen at Figure 8 Studios
Film Festival and Youtube Simultaneous Halloween Premiere
>>>Watch the Video<<<
>>>Buy the Soundtrack by Stan Harrison and Danny Tunick on Bandcamp for $4 <<<
Proceeds go to South Brooklyn Sanctuary!
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Adhyâropa Records Releases Scratchers! (OST), with 80% of Proceeds Supporting South Brooklyn Sanctuary
Improvised single-track soundtrack to Matt Kohn's music-first short film blends 80s crime- thriller style, horror, and dance.
NEW YORK, NY – Adhyâropa Records announces Scratchers! (OST), a single-track soundtrack to Scratchers!, a new short film by filmmaker Matt Kohn (Call It Democracy). The film premieres at the Pawtucket Film Festival on Halloween, October 31, 2026, and the track will be available to stream and purchase immediately. The track is $4, and 80% of proceeds will go to South Brooklyn Sanctuary, a nonprofit providing legal services to immigrants in Brooklyn.
In Scratchers! a young teacher is pursued by apparitions in broad daylight. Kohn conceived the film as music-first, placing the audience inside a movie where horror, and dance collide. It stars Amanda Mendez and Jessie Heesacker, rising New York actors trained in Butoh, the Japanese avant-garde dance-theater form that also informs Kohn's post-pandemic film and theater work.
The soundtrack was improvised by saxophonist and composer Stan Harrison (They Might Be Giants, David Bowie) and percussionist Danny Tunick (Terry Riley), and produced by Lily Wen (Meshell Ndegeocello, Moses Sumney). Kohn knew Harrison from their shared work with Laurie Anderson, and Lily produced Stan’s recent LP, “Some Poor Soul Has a Fire.” The result is a powerful track that gets deep into fear and hope you can feel in Afro-punk funk to 1970s TV mystery themes, underscoring the sudden, fate of the film's young characters.
“I was inspired by Michael Mann films, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, and John Carpenter. We needed to have fun in this serious time, and that’s why we imagine a happy ending. But the film delivers an unexpected twist, and we encourage the audience to make a real- world contribution.” said Kohn.
About Matt Kohn
Matthew Kohn is preparing to share his first fiction feature, Colorblind Color Corrector and is writing more screenplays and durational theater. He directed and produced Call It Democracy a feature documentary that explains the American voting system through the lens of the Electoral College. and a feature documentary film about Manute Bol’s historic efforts to create peace in war-torn Sudan. He also produced Charlie Victor Romeo, the first 3D Feature Film at the Sundance Film Festival, and hosts Speakeasy Cinema since 2004.
About South Brooklyn Sanctuary
South Brooklyn Sanctuary (SBS) responds to a civil rights issue hiding in plain sight: there is no right to counsel in immigration court, and nearly half of immigrant New Yorkers are forced to represent themselves. We train volunteers to support community members in understanding the law, preparing their cases, and moving through the system with greater clarity and dignity. Through this work, we build shared knowledge and collective defense. Our work is rooted in Brooklyn and open to community members across New York City.
