Private Project

Light Matter

A black-and-white film that lets you see colors. Winner of 12 international film awards!

Attention! This film contains flashing lights which may not be suitable for light-sensitive epilepsy.

Initially barely noticeable, the first dim flashes of light become continuously brighter and more intense over a period of five minutes. Towards the end they become a staccato of light and dark stimuli that evoke psychedelic colour impressions in the audience. "Light Matter" takes advantage of a physiological phenomenon where the rapid change from light to dark triggers color perception in the brain without the detour via the receptors of color vision in the eye.

For best results please view in darkness with maximum monitor brightness. Or in a cinema.

  • Virgil Widrich
    Director
    Copy Shop, Fast Film, back track, Night of a 1000 Hours, Vienna table trip, Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel
  • Virgil Widrich
    Writer
    Copy Shop, Fast Film, back track, Night of a 1000 Hours, Vienna table trip, Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel
  • Virgil Widrich
    Producer
    Copy Shop, Fast Film, back track, Night of a 1000 Hours, Vienna table trip, Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Light Matter
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Flicker Film, Experimental, psychology, perception
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 11, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Austria
  • Country of Filming:
    Austria
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Viennale Film Festival
    Vienna
    Austria
    October 29, 2018
    World premiere
    Official selection
Distribution Information
  • Sixpack Film
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Virgil Widrich

Virgil Widrich, born 1967 in Salzburg, winner of over 150 international film awards including an Oscar-nomination for his short "Copy Shop". His most recent feature film is "Night of a 1000 Hours" (2016). In 2018 he directed his first music video "Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel" and produced the experimental short "Light Matter". Virgil Widrich lives in Vienna, Austria.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

You will see colors, but the film is in pure black and white. You will see patterns where there are none. What you see is not on the screen, but a product of the receptors in your brain!