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.
From Stan: “There is never a single path when composing for film. Should the composer mirror the film’s action? Try to interpret it on a psychological level? Foreshadow events? Do the exact opposite? All of the above and more? Deciding the answers to these questions is challenging enough when working alone. Composing with others adds an additional element. And in this case, improvising with others within a limited amount of time might be the most interesting and difficult of all. Two people watching and improvising in real time while watching the same film could be a recipe for disaster.
With this in mind, here was our approach: Danny watched the film while playing and I responded to Danny. Of course, I had seen the film and knew what was going on, but chose to respond only on a musical level. This felt like a good way to unify the elements. Danny’s playing made it that much easier to do so. A handful of overdubs were made after the initial recording(s), at which point everyone, led by
Matt and LIly (an engineer with the ears and intuition of a producer), helped make the final editing decisions which resulted in what you now hear. I have to especially give credit to Matt for being open from the start to this way of putting together a soundtrack. It was an exhilarating experience which I hope will be apparent when you both watch and listen.”
Amanda Méndez is a Puerto Rican actress based in New York. She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Puerto Rico and has trained extensively in Butoh, Grotowski, and Alexander Technique, with a focus on experimental movement. Her work spans theatre and film, with credits including Colapso (2025), Padres (2024), Segregatio, Fando y Lis, and Las Palancas. She is a three-time Best Actress award recipient, recognized by the 48 Hour Film Project, European Film Festival, and International Moving Film Festival.
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.
