Common sense tells us that we should't look directly at the sun, at the risk of damaging our sight, but that's exactly what the camera does by pointing at the star in the beginning of this film. This is followed by an exploration of several ancient and elemental optical phenomena which occur in nature, be it ordinary, like the shadows or the reflection of light in the water, or more rare, such as a solar eclipse or a Brocken spectre (the magnified - and apparently enormous - shadow of an observer cast upon a mountainside or cloud bank). These are natural phenomena, simultaneously pre and post-human, independent of any human activity or culture. These illusions and distortions, which are characterized by their fleeting and elusive existence, are depicted as small venerable miracles, in a kind of meditation upon presence and absence. This is Florian Fischer e Johannes Krell's debut at Curtas. The directorial duo's film earned the Golden Bear at this year's edition of Berlinale. (JA)