Dark Light Voyage

Synopsis

His daughter looked out of the window. They were 20 km away from the Ruc tribe, who sleep in a sitting position and are said to have kept a fire burning since the beginning of time, rooted in the belief that if it should ever go out, humanity will cease to exist.
When Tin Dirdamal hears that a friend of his he had lost contact with twelve years ago is in a psychiatric hospital after killing his wife, he sets off on a train journey with his daughter (the narrator) in search of answers. A journey across Vietnam, from north to south, in which the filmmaker's camera keenly observes people on the move.
A reflection on fatherhood, empathy and the perception of human complexity through the innocent eyes of a child.

Bio/Filmo

Tin Dirdamal (Monterrey, 1982) is a self-taught filmmaker who judges the success of his films by how much of himself he has been able to surrender on the way. His debut, De nadie (2005), won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival and the Ariel Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as being screened at l'Alternativa 2006. His following two films, Ríos de hombres (2011) and Muerte en Arizona (2014), received funding from the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute and Rockefeller Media Artists and were screened at Visions du Réel, IDFA, La Mostra de São Paulo, BAFICI and FICUNAM, which also premiered his latest feature, Dark Light Voyage. His experimental film Sonido vertical. Luz y el comienzo del futuro is also being screened live at l'Alternativa 2021.
Eva Cadena is a climber, painter and filmmaker who relishes the art of confusing people. She is always asking questions but never seems too bothered with the answers. Her most useful ruse is to fool people with a smile. In 2019–2021 she teamed up with filmmaker Tin Dirdamal to create Dark Light Voyage, during the course of which she learnt to speak Vietnamese.