Private Project

Fig. 2 - Absence

Fig. 2 – Absence is a handmade, frame-by-frame meditation on loss and memory, created in honour of my grandfather and uncle, who both passed away from cancer in 2020. The film unfolds in stark monochrome, with a single bloom of colour drawn from photographs and sounds of them, allowing them to live on, if only for a moment, through film. Nearly 800 still images were printed on transparent film, then re-photographed one by one. For every three seconds captured digitally, only one second remains on screen, the result of a slow, deliberate process that lets the work gather the weight of touch and time. Without dialogue, the piece draws viewers into a space where presence lingers and absence speaks.

  • Nika Hood
    Director
  • Nika Hood
    Writer
  • Nika Hood
    Key Cast
    "Woman "
  • David Hood
    Key Cast
    "Man/Silhouette "
  • Natasha Birrer
    Sound Designer
  • Nika Hood
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Art Film, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 19 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    South Africa
  • Country of Filming:
    South Africa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Open Window Institute
Director Biography - Nika Hood

Nika Hood is a South African filmmaker completing her film degree at The Open Window Institute, exploring bold cinematography techniques to craft fresh, visually striking, and emotionally resonant films.

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Director Statement

Fig. 2 – Absence was born from grief and a need to hold on. In 2020, I lost both my grandfather and uncle to cancer. I sought to carry their energy forward, not as a fixed memory but as something that could breathe again. Nearly 800 stills passed through my hands, printed on transparent film and re-photographed one by one, slowing time until three seconds of life became one on screen. Stripped of dialogue but laced with faint traces of their voices, the work creates a space where presence and absence meet, breaking in a quiet rupture, a sudden void after fullness, much like the way loss enters our lives. This is my act of remembering, allowing their presence to linger.