Don't Let the Sun, directorial debut of Jacqueline Zünd of Switzerland, offers a provocative yet lucid vision of humanity's imminent future, marked by climate change and the profound deterioration of human relationships.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jonah works for an agency that provides "relationships on demand": emotional substitutes hired to fill the void in a society increasingly incapable of sustaining authentic bonds. His life changes when he is hired to play father to reserved, distrustful little Nika. In this fragile and unpredictable encounter, something cracks. As Nika slowly begins to open up, Jonah is forced to confront real emotions, questioning the system of fictions where he has always found refuge.
Don't Let the Sun explores the progressive cooling of human relationships in a hyper-controlled society with a lucid and profoundly contemporary gaze, questioning the meaning of intimacy and the need for connection, with the increasingly ambiguous forms that can take.
Locations included Milan and Genoa, with forays to Brazil and highly distinctive architectural spaces, like Monte Amiata, a contemporary residential complex in Gallaratese (Milan), to construct a visual imagery suspended between present and future whose urban dimension reflects the solitude and fragility of the characters.
Don't Let the Sun, directorial debut of Jacqueline Zünd of Switzerland, offers a provocative yet lucid vision of humanity's imminent future, marked by climate change and the profound deterioration of human relationships.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jonah works for an agency that provides "relationships on demand": emotional substitutes hired to fill the void in a society increasingly incapable of sustaining authentic bonds. His life changes when he is hired to play father to reserved, distrustful little Nika. In this fragile and unpredictable encounter, something cracks. As Nika slowly begins to open up, Jonah is forced to confront real emotions, questioning the system of fictions where he has always found refuge.
Don't Let the Sun explores the progressive cooling of human relationships in a hyper-controlled society with a lucid and profoundly contemporary gaze, questioning the meaning of intimacy and the need for connection, with the increasingly ambiguous forms that can take.
Locations included Milan and Genoa, with forays to Brazil and highly distinctive architectural spaces, like Monte Amiata, a contemporary residential complex in Gallaratese (Milan), to construct a visual imagery suspended between present and future whose urban dimension reflects the solitude and fragility of the characters.
Lomotion, CDV Casa delle Visioni, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
In a world made unbearable by heat, social life takes place exclusively at night. It is a regulated, functional existence where human relationships have fallen apart. Jonah works for an agency that provides "emotional substitutes" to those unable to sustain authentic emotional involvement. When he is hired to play the father of withdrawn and distrustful Nika, his protective mask slowly begins to crack.
