Landon Van Soest: Light Darkness Light

“Light Darkness Light is what occurs when religion, technology and science intersect.”

S Y N O PS I S

Father Ian Nichols has just had cutting-edge surgery. The darkness of the world he once lived in has now been transformed to one of abstract artificial vision. Acutely sensitive to the environment around him and articulate in conveying the sensations he experiences — physically, emotionally and spiritually — his presence transforms Light Darkness Light into a profound meditation on lived experiences. The film tackles themes of perception, memory and imagination, inviting viewers to contemplate their own connections to these ideas. At times strikingly beautiful, Van Soest’s empathetic portrait becomes a moving rumination of the way we live in the world and the role our senses play in being connected to it.

Landon Van Soest states “When I first heard about trials of a bionic eye, the concept was bewildering to me. What would it be like to see again after a lifetime in the dark? What if the experience was nothing like the sight you remembered? What would it mean to pioneer a completely new form of perception? The unbelievable technology and the philosophical questions it raised, had all the makings of great science fiction, but this was true to life and unfolding in real time. Immediately I thought the story opened exciting cinematic opportunities that had the potential to break new ground in documentary storytelling.”

Light, Darkness, Light screened at New York Documentary Festival.