(Welcome to speakers and students of the language Esperanto!)

INCUBUS estas la unusola filmo usona iam farita tute en Esperanto. Nun havebla en la amerika-japana televidsistemo NTSC kaj en la europa sistemo PAL.

(INCUBUS is the one and only American film ever made entirely in Esperanto. Now available in the American-Japanese television system NTSC and in the European system PAL.)



In the creation of "Incubus," finding a suitable language presented a dilemma. The characters, Incubi and Succubi, are not only super-natural, they are supra-national. In English, it is amusing to think of demons speaking with Texas accents or, perhaps, in broad Devonshire. European languages--even the most sinister--are too regional to be used exclusively by the powers of darkness.

At first, a "gibberish" language was considered. The language of "Finnegan's Wake" was a possibility but proved impractical since no syntax could be extracted and the actors found it impossible to master it other than by rote. However, Joyce's multi-lingual puns pointed the obvious path to an international Language. "Volapuk," one of the oldest (created by Rev. F. Schleyer in 1880) turned out to be a mare's nest of bristling consonants. It was decided to use the sturdiest of all "artificial" languages— Esperanto.

Esperanto was created in 1887 by Ludovic Zamenhof. It is a living language, spoken today by over 3 million people spread around the world. Publications such as Esperanto and Monato enjoy wide circulation. An International Congress, held yearly, attracts thousands of delegates. In recent years, this Congress has taken place in Prague, Seoul, Havana, Adelaide, and Valencia.

Esperanto is rooted in Latin with elements of Greek and shadings of Teutonic. Due to the antiquity of the word roots, the language is highly poetic, evocative and serves the actors well in "Incubus". What began as a theatrical embellishment turned out to have depth and dramatic impact in its own right. Here is a RealAudio clip of dialogue between William Shatner and Allyson Ames from the film in Esperanto.

You can learn more about Esperanto—and, in fact, learn Esperanto—at The Esperanto League of North America, Universal Esperanto Association, or Esperanto.org.