Social & External
Light is information, a signal more lasting than recollection. If there’s anyone out there to receive the message. Isolated in a sealed apartment, a lone observer regards an outside world outside become increasingly unreal or unreachable. Archaic illuminations, old slides and the pin-lights of the camera obscura, crawl across the walls. Connections fray. Time loses meaning. A science fictional essay film, or its inverse. A rumination on optics, memory, data, and endings.
From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity's unique obsession with the camera's image and the social consequences that lay ahead.
Philophobic delves into the complexities of modern relationships, offering a glimpse into the emotional journey of a young woman navigating love and fear. Through the lens of her bedroom and the use of viewmaster reels, viewers witness her struggle to reconcile her longing for connection with her deep-seated fear of vulnerability. As she grapples with her emotional detachment, Philophobic prompts reflection on the fragile nature of Gen Z relationships and the universal quest for validation.
Sitting Idle (2021) is a meandering, meditative visual poem that follows the life of a nameless character over the course of a year - as he traverses across the country, meeting and living with friends along the way. Luke Olutunmogun presents an unconventional plot-free narrative that acts as a visual longitudinal study and diary - exploring feelings of loneliness, alienation, and jadedness amid the death throes of a decaying urban landscape.
"If it Won’t Hold Water, it Surely Won’t Hold a Goat" is an intimate meditation on the subversive nature of goats and their effect on the people who spend time with them. Centered on the story of the legendary Goat Man - a nomadic figure who spent most of his life walking the roads of Georgia with a wagon pulled by a herd of goats - this experimental documentary weaves together an interview with a goat farmer, footage of the daily rituals Johnson enacted with her own herd, and a poem about the Goat Man’s experimental and spectacular life.
Four Montrealers search for their path within their failing metropolis, mirroring the deterioration of their deepest ambitions. A cinepoetic journey through Montréal- both modest and morose- woven together by the sounds of small things.
While working with wet plate collodion Ruhter came up with an idea to show the world the beauty of these objects in a size that was deemed impossible. This led him and the Silver & Light Team to a forgotten town on the edge of the Salton Sea called Bombay Beach, located in California’s Imperial Valley. The idea was to create a camera out of an abandoned house. The structure would serve as the framework for the camera. Instead of focusing on the decay from the outside, this house camera allowed a view from the inside into someone’s dream. Once the giant lens was placed on the front of the house, images of Ted, a 100 year old resident who recently found himself homeless, were projected in, breathing new life into this abandoned structure and once again making it a home. During this brief moment in time when Ted’s photograph was captured, he was present in both places. In reality, he was homeless in the outside world.
A poetic coming-of-age, in which the characters drift through memories, searching for a place in a world that constantly casts them aside. It’s an intimate, indie-aesthetic story about reminiscences preserved on camera, lost and regained bonds and people learning to grow up within a space lacking both home and the assurance that anyone is waiting for their return.
A university professor on the verge of divorce and a new life is confronted with encounters that make him doubt his desires — and reality.
Using Varsha Panikar's poetry series by the same name, it follows the journey of a poet as they rediscover love, passion, and identity after encountering their muse.
Fed up with surviving on social crumbs, he takes a surreal flight to find a hidden truth. In a dull world, we need color, but what if this colorful idealization turns against you?
An intimate visual poem explores the delicate balance between change and stillness, inspired by Ethan TK Trinh’s 2025 poetry collection, “Change and Don’t.”
Captured on HUAWEI P60 Pro, "The Sea Is Not Blue At Seberang Takir" is a glimpse into the lives of three characters in a village by the sea in Kuala Terengganu. Written and directed by Ariff Zulkarnain, the short film features an anthology of poems by the great T. Alias Taib, also known as the "People's Poet".
A transgender girl runs away from home and is invited to live with a strange photographer who pushes her to help him pay his debts.
Tender caresses and enveloping embraces are portals into the life of Mack, a Black woman in Mississippi. Winding through the anticipation, love, and heartbreak she experiences from childhood to adulthood, the expressionist journey is an ode to connection — with loved ones and with place.
Digital images decomposing in rain-like effects. A visual poem, trying to capture the poetics of a cinematic rain shower into the structure of its images. Still images from the 1982 science fiction film noir classic Blade Runner become animated, a frozen memory of two lovers is washed away in time.
