A shimmering light, the rustle of the leaves, round spots of light in the shade of a tree. The sun reflects on the water. It is an element and counterpart. Can nature observe itself? A cinematic reflection on the presence and absence of things.

The film Umbra deals with rare and common optical pheno- mena that occur in nature. These phenomena evoke familiar images such as shadows or reflections on a water surface; but also unusual ones like the “Brocken spectre” or the pinhole effect during a solar eclipse. These ancient and natural projections can be considered as pre-cultural and independent of any apparatus. They occured even before mankind and are united by their intangible, ephemeral presence. In their immateriality and fragility, they are precursors of the cinematic image. The film UMBRA develops a visual dialogue between phenomenon and apparatus, archetype and image, self and self-perception.