Light Falls Vertical
Efthymia Zymvragaki / ES, DE, 2022 / 85 min.
Filmmaker Efthymia Zymvragaki combines the story of a perpetrator with her own experiences as a victim of domestic violence in a poetic film that offers insight into the causes and consequences of abuse.
When filmmaker Efthymia Zymvragaki fled her native island of Crete as a young adult, she hoped to leave her violent childhood behind her. But in Spain, her memories are reawakened when a man asks her to make a film about him and his violence.
The encounters with the schizophrenic Ernesto and his alter ego Juan, the candid conversations about the violent acts he has committed and the scenes in which he or actors reenact parts of his autobiography offer unprecedented insight into the nature of a perpetrator—in this case, one who is painfully self-aware. At the same time, the filmmaker relives her own past.
The calm, almost whispered commentary and the poetic, cinematic shots of sun-drenched landscapes, details of flowers and the sea—in which Zymvragaki's father was eventually to die—leave room for your own contemplations. As well as the impact and causes of domestic violence, the film also deals with identity and the longing for a home.
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Details
Director
Efthymia Zymvragaki
Production year
2022
Country
ES, DE
Original title
A Sad and Vulgar Loner / Now the Light Falls Vertical
Length
85 min.
Language
Spanish, English, Greek (modern)
Format
DCP
Part of
IDFA 2022
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