The City Dark

Last Friday, lovely Ulysse of Atrium opened up the newly refurbished central London showroom to enable us to show the UK premiere of Ian Cheney’s The City Dark.

It was a special non-agenda event, for Light Collective guests only, to show a film we essentially found on the internet whilst researching a darkness event in Chile called Noche Zero.

The sole reason for holding the event was that this film is really cool. It’s informative, thought-provoking, personal, humorous and clever all at once. Why humans have gone to such great lengths to envelop ourselves in a luminous fog is a question that lighting designers should ask themselves everyday.

The director waived the normal screening fee and Atrium created a mini screening room. So big thanks to them. 

Here is our mini interview with Ian Cheney:

LC:  Can you explain the catalyst for making the film?

IC:  I grew up in love with the starry night sky, but as I grew older and moved to cities, I lost my connection to the stars. With more than half of the world living in cities, what do we risk losing? The film began as a quest to unravel what’s at stake when generations of kids grow up without seeing the Milky Way. 

LC:  Was it not an issue that occurred to you before you moved to a major city?

IC:  Moving to a bright city like New York - where, oddly enough, the city skyline actually reminded me of the night sky - was certainly the strongest impetus for asking what is left behind when one leaves the countryside. 

LC:  Did people think it was a strange subject for a movie?

IC:  Ha! Sure, I think that’s fair to say. Light pollution isn’t necessarily on most folks’ radar screens — although I think that’s changing. 

LC:  Do you see the film as being US-centric or universal?

IC:  Though the film is rooted in New York, I think the human connection to the stars is more universal; the loss of the night sky is indisputably a global problem. 

LC:  Why do you think most people don’t consider darkness as important in their lives?

IC:  I wonder about that. Perhaps it’s because we’re a diurnal species — we love the light! Or perhaps because there are strong cultural forces at play encouraging us to fear the dark. But I also think there’s just something intangible about light and dark —  so we don’t always think about light as a potential “pollutant,” or something that could be mis-used. We don’t tend to get all worked up if our neighbor’s light is shining in our window, but what if they were blasting a hose of water against the panes?

LC:  What was the most surprising thing you found out? i.e something unexpected?

IC:  I knew nothing about melatonin and the ways in which our circadian rhythms are affected by light; it’s fascinating and troubling to me how much we’ve changed our ancient relationship to light and dark.

Click here for The City Dark official website.

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