Lux/Nox

An experimental film and art project written and directed by Malado Baldwin and Sarah Walko. LUX/NOX is a story of the journey of self-actualization set in the framework of an alchemical process. Each scene was designed, acted, and sequenced using the skeletal steps of ancient alchemy fused with a new visual language to form a cross-cultural creation story.

The two iconic female characters explore the depths of the dark and light parts of human psyche, representing all aspects of the human through multiple channels. The ritual of their transformation is an act of shedding cultural bias and mythos to return to an original and powerful symbol: unpolluted and pure.

The film references many forms of ancient intuition and wisdom as enacted through mythological female characters, calling to mind a rebirth of ancient wisdoms, shamanistic practices, and magical lore.

  • Malado Francine Baldwin
    Director
    El cadáver exquisito, Urbania, Whipped
  • Sarah Walko
    Director
    El cadáver exquisito, Make Bright the Arrows, Wide
  • Malado Baldwin
    Writer
  • Sarah Walko
    Writer
  • Malado Baldwin
    Producer
  • Sarah Walko
    Producer
  • Malado Baldwin
    Key Cast
  • Sarah Walko
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Other
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, spiritual, art film, alchemy, feminist
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2014
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • FAIR PLAY MIAMI
    Miami
    United States
    December 14, 2017
  • Codex Dynamic Film Festival
    Brooklyn
    United States
  • The Situation Room
    Los Angeles
    United States
    June 15, 2015
Director Biography - Malado Francine Baldwin, Sarah Walko

Malado Baldwin was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Western Africa and Washington, D.C. She is currently a Los Angeles and New York based multi-media artist. She is a painter, filmmaker, and installation artist whose work has been featured in numerous galleries and festivals. She has worked as a set designer in film, theatre, and photography for over 15 years. She is now working on a several artist books, paintings, and a series of sculptures for upcoming shows.

Sarah Walko was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a multimedia sculptor, installation artist, writer, and filmmaker. She is currently the Executive Director of the Marble House Project, and is art director with the independent film collective Santasombra which shows at International Film Festivals around the world. She is currently working on new sculpture, writing and web/film collaborations and has just completed several exhibitions in New York.

In our newest project: LUX/NOX, a multi-part film and collaborative art piece, medieval alchemical texts are used as the skeletal structure for the stages of personal transmutation. Five unique short films alongside paintings and sculptural elements form a cross-cultural creation story. In the making, ritualistic action, colors, jewelry, costumes and props were based on research into historical narratives, sacred geometry, and Jungian symbolism alongside tear sheets from contemporary fashion magazines. In order to break the aura of cultural programming, we chose instead to realize a new kind of story.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

We believe film to be the currency of our time: art that combines poetry, painting, sculpture, symbol, movement, light and sound... and through its genesis we are conduits of messages, performers which call into question the place of the spiritual world in the contemporary landscape of globalized knowledge.