Untamed Light

Antu is 10 years old and was born blind with a pathology known as Anophthalmia. She lives between Spain and Argentina, and often travels throughout South America with her parents projecting films in small and forgotten towns, imagining the stories that she will never be able to see, but rather feel and imagine as her parents help her capture the magic of cinema.

  • Luis Sampieri
    Director
    Cabecita Rubia, Fin, La Hija, Señales de Humo
  • Luis Sampieri
    Writer
    Cabecita Rubia, Fin, La Hija, Señales de Humo
  • Luis Sampieri
    Producer
    Cabecita Rubia, Fin, La Hija, Smoke Signals
  • Cecilia Etchegoyen
    Producer
    Fin (2010)
  • Pere Marzo
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Indómita Luz
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 24 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 7, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    475,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Argentina
  • Country of Filming:
    Argentina, Spain
  • Language:
    Catalan, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    185:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Luis Sampieri

Born in Tucumán (1971), Argentina. He studied film directing, script writing, and production between 1991 and 1996 with José Martínez Suarez, a renowned director and scriptwriter in Argentina.
In 1995, he directed and produced the medium-length film "La Máquina del Humo" (The Smoke Machine), which participated in several international film festivals (Valencia, Sao Pablo, La Alternativa Barcelona, among others). Between 1994 and 1998, he worked as a production assistant and director's assistant in feature films and commercials for production companies such as Bender Cine and Stuart Carvajal. Since 2000 to date, he has directed documentaries and commercials, both in Argentina and in Spain for Adrenaline Films Barcelona, GP Visión Madrid, and Cierzo Films Barcelona.
In 2000, he directed and produced the feature film "Cabecita Rubia" (Lost Horizon), which received the award for best actor (Eusebio Poncela) at the New York LaCinemafe film festival. The film obtained three nominations at the "Cóndor de Plata" awards in Argentina (Best actor, Best actress, Best music). It participated in the official selection at the following film festivals: Rotterdam, La Habana, New York, Hamburg, Milan, Rio, San Paulo, Bratislava, among others.
In 2001, he moved to Spain and founded the production company Cierzo Films in Barcelona, with which he produced commercials and TV documentaries, such as "La Voz del viento" and “Irene" (co-produced with the DFFB film school in Berlin). In 2006, he directed and produced the documentary "Te Acompañamos", which was shown at Cines Verdi in Barcelona. In 2010, he directed and produced the feature film "Fin" (End), which was selected to participate in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival. He also won the Best Director award at the Malaga International Film Festival (Zonacine). "Fin" participated in the following film festivals: Berlin, Sitges, Mar Del Plata, Marrakech, among others. It was published in DVD within the Cahiers Du Cinema Spain collection, selected among the 10 best films of the year. In 2010, the film is nominated for the Age d'Or prize, from the Brussels Cinematheque, in Belgium.
In 2015, he directed his third feature film, "La Hija" (The Daughter), starring Harry Havilio, Gloria Berbuc, and Daniel Elías, among others, co-produced with Carlos Piwowarski and the support of the Argentinean Film Institute (INCAA). The film participated in the official selection at the Chicago International Film Festival. It was also selected to represent Argentina in the International Week of Andean Cinema. The film was awarded the prize for Best Actress and Best Actor at the Festival Internacional de Cine de las Alturas, Jujuy, Argentina, 2016.
In 2017, he won a national competition "200 años del Bicentenario Argentino" with his project for a documentary series "Manuel Belgrano, la nación soñada". This is a television documentary series for Argentinean public television made up of 4 chapters of 30 minutes each.
He currently lives in Cafayate, Salta, Argentina and is preparing his his sixth feature film titled La Rezadora (The Prayer), a co-production between Argentina and Chile.

Awards and Nominations
Cabecita Rubia: Awarded Best Actor (Eusebio Poncela), Festival LaCinemafe New York (2001). Three nominations to Argentinean Cóndor de Plata: Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Music.
Paitití (script): Hubert Bals Fund from the Rotterdam Film Festival (2001).
FIN: Awarded Best Director, Malaga International Film Festival Nominated to the Age d'Or from the Brussels Cinematheque, in Belgium (2010).
La Hija: SAGAI awards for Best Actor (Harry Havilio) and Best Actress (Gloria Berbuc), Festival Internacional de Cine de las Alturas, Jujuy, Argentina (2016).
Belgrano, La nación soñada: Won the contest 200 Años del Bicentenario de la República Argentina.

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Director Statement

When I met Antu, I discovered a kind of utopia. The utopia of dreaming about a world that is more fair and caring through the reality of a blind girl who constantly makes us ask ourselves "why are we here?" and "what can we offer the world around us?". That first day, several questions went through my mind... What is everyday life like for a little girl born without eyes? How do Antu's parents face her situation (bilateral anophthalmia)? How does Antu perceive the universe and the people around her? In time, and after having spent a lot of time with the family, I realized that they are an example of what it means to overcome countless obstacles. Both the litter girl and her parents can teach us to "see" the world differently through the telling of this moving story. When I met them about 5 years ago during a visit with friends, I felt that her story, and those of her parents, needed to be told. Several years have passed to be able to make this vibrant and moving story a reality. All this time, during which I maintained constant contact with the family, Antu has grown into a self-assured and happy little girl, learning something new every day and interacting with those around her in a way that is natural and surprising for a girl her age. The sense of bravery and generosity I felt the first time I met her and discovered her story is the main driving force behind this film. A film in which the lines between fiction and reality merge naturally, revealing a story of faith and courage, which I'm preparing to tell. From the first moment I met our protagonist, I "saw" a story that needed to be told. A film that, I think, is necessary and where prejudices towards blind people will slowly disappear as we get to know Antu on a more intimate setting While travelling with the family, we'll experience many realities that will touch our protagonists and our audience. It is important that our story eliminate the prejudices we often have towards people with disabilities.
Through their life story, Antu and her parents will help us overcome these prejudices by showing us how they have conquered adversity. People with vision, blind, poor, rich, native, foreigners, white, black, for all social strata and for each ethnic group, cinema, as a cultural manifestation, affects each of us differently. Joy, sadness, anger, stoicism... these are all sensations provoked by cinema and that we experience in our everyday lives. Our film will not be oblivious to all these sensations and, in some way, Antu, as the driving force behind this story, will not only help eliminate language and race barriers, but will also propose another way of feeling cinema through the "eyes" of a girl who cannot see it.