A Season in Secret
Synopsis
The film takes some of its cues from the Japanese aesthetic concept of Yūgen, described in part by the 15th-century aesthetician Zeami Motokiyo: “...to stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.”
Details
- Year
- 2027
- Type of project
- Shorts
- Running time
- 12 min
- Format
- 16mm
- Director
-
Matthew Berka
- Producer
- Matthew Berka
- Editor
- Matthew Berka
- Director of Photography
- Matthew Berka
- Sound
- Matthew Berka
- Composer
- Matthew Berka
Genre
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Matthew Berka
6D Waldegrave RoadSE192AJ
Sales Company
Matthew Berka
6D Waldegrave RoadSE192AJ
Page updates
This page was last updated on 6th November 2026. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Body, Remember...
Director: Matthew Berka
Year: 2026
After C. P. Cavafy. Dedicated to the body, to remembering, to forgetting. When blinded, the senses can cross-pollinate so that they become more closely bonded. Likewise, they can also disassociate and lose contact with each other. Desire transforms things into other things. The erotics of absence and suggestion direct attention away from the materialism of pornography. Longing is described through cinematic space as distance and proximity. Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026 - World premiere
Fevers
Director: James Richards
Year: 2026
Taking as his starting point - less by way of invocation than summoning - the text from Marguerite Duras’ 'Les Mains négatives' and Tony Conrad’s 'The Flicker', James Richards weaves together stirring fragments composed from 2022-2026, including repurposed material from friends and collaborators including Steve Reinke. The screen is filled with images and impressions, depicting a frantic yet melancholic quest for meaning between language, gesture, and sensation. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere
The Atlas of Sound
Director: Siobhan Silén
Year: 2027
An animated VR short inspired by autistic musician Jen Msumba, who defies a system designed to erase her through synaesthetic music-making. It explores the universal need to be accepted for who we are. Participants journey through Jen’s life, from childhood, when the world feels confusing and “wonky”. Music is her safety and compass. While others read notes on a page, Jen sees visual maps that help her express emotions and navigate uncertainty. As a teenager, Jen’s mother becomes ill and her anxiety overwhelms her. Years of psychiatric institutions and medication leave her sedated, unable to play instruments. Her family sends her to the Judge Rotenberg Center, whose practices will later be described by the United Nations as torture. Over seven years of confinement and painful electric shocks, Jen is taught to believe she is “wrong”. Secretly composing music in her head becomes her refuge. Realising the centre will not support her independence, Jen writes to a judge and wins her freedom. She rediscovers music and invites us into her musical map, where participants touch and transform notes through movement, shifting melodies from classical to punk rock. We end with Jen performing on stage.