The Dark Side of the Sun opens a window onto another world
- A summer camp for children suffering from a rare disease is at the heart of Carlo Hintermann’s documentary, which blends animation and reality, and hits cinemas on 19 June
"Here comes the sun, it's all right", The Beatles sang, but for some of us the sun can prove a deadly enemy. Indeed, the children at the centre of Carlo Shalom Hintermann’s documentary The Dark Side of the Sun [+see also:
trailer
film profile] suffer from Xeroderma Pigmentosum, an incredibly rare illness affecting the skin which makes for an intolerance of sunlight and forces these little sufferers to live their lives at night.
It’s this inverted dimension, far from the world of daylight, which forms the focus of this film, which is set to be released in 15 copies in the cinemas of Italy’s major cities on 19 June, distributed by Microcinema. Presented in English with Italian subtitles at Rome Film Fest, The Dark Side of the Sun is now being released in dubbed Italian form, courtesy of dubbing director Rodolfo Bianchi and the words of Pino Insegno and Leo Gullotta.
"We live and dream at the same time, we’re flesh and blood, colour and light, the sun really bothers us but the night brings us together", write the film’s tiny protagonists, attending Camp Sundown, a summer camp in New York State created via the tenacity of Katie’s parents, whose daughter has been unable to live her life in sunlight since 1994, when she was two years old, due to it burning her body.
What sets this film apart from so many other documentaries on rare illnesses is Lorenzo Ceccotti’s wonderful animation, inspired by drawings by the children themselves. “To speak about rare illnesses means speaking about a whole other world”, explains director Carlo Hintermann, who also authored Rosy-Fingered Dawn - Un film su Terrence Malick, which was shot in 2002 and selected for the Venice Film Festival. "The film looked to experiment with different languages, also by way of animation. Whilst night-time for most children is about darkness and uncertainty, in this film it becomes a magical time, where these children’s dreams have been reproduced and transposed into animation. It was these children’s suggestions which gave rise to the characters we see in the animated part of the film, which wouldn’t have otherwise come to life”.
The movie is produced by Citrullo International and Rainbow in collaboration with RAI Cinema, and in association with NHK, DR TV, YLE, Lorenzo Ceccotti and Michele Petochi.
(Translated from Italian)
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