Title: Dark Matter
Runtime: 10 min
Country: Australia
Director: Leo Berkeley
Placement: Award of Excellence
Competition: December, 2024
Synopsis: Dark Matter is a short personal essay film and the first film in 8 years from Leo Berkeley, a Melbourne filmmaker whose 1991 film ‘Holidays on the River Yarra’ screened at Cannes (Un Certain Regard), Tokyo, Sundance and Melbourne. Now in the later stages of MS (Multiple Sclerosis), Leo can no longer work, is wheelchair-bound and spends his days staring out the window of his high-rise apartment. The film shows him reflecting on topics from fake grass and cigarette butts, which rain down onto his balcony from the floors above, to disability and quantum mechanics.