LIGHT FALLS

Papamichael is best known as a cinematographer and a two-time Oscar nominee for Best Achievement in Cinematography ((2014 for NEBRASKA, 2021 for THE TRIAL OF THE CHIGACO 7). However, he has also been working as a director since the 1990s. LIGHT FALLS, his latest directorial work, was shot by a small crew during a covid quarantine. A low-budget thriller turns into a true master class on how to make an exciting movie using minimal resources. Tension is built up by playing with lighting, camera angles and dramatic close-ups. Just as masterful are the minimalistic soundtrack and the perfectly chosen ominous location, an abandoned hotel for mass tourism from the 1980s. The film also has a social dimension. In it, not just people who do not speak the same language collide, but two worlds: well-off tourists from a wealthy country and disenfranchised migrant workers, living here illegally, toiling for a prosperity they will never achieve. At the same time, all the hallmarks of the genre are in place: violence, suspense, a tense game of cat and mouse, revenge and, of course, the final girl, the traditional character who will put an end to this bloody confrontation.

Text: Ksenia Reutova

09.11.2024 | 21:00 | Stadthalle (original version with english subtitles + simultaneous translation into German)