Sanfic Industria Winner ‘Una Luz Negra’ Ponders the Mysteries of Memory and Grief

Anna Marie de la Fuente In his feature debut, which has just proved the biggest winner at Sanfic Industria’s 2022 Work in Progress strand, Chilean writer-director Alberto Hayden explores what has been almost an obsession with him. Inspired by the musings of South Korean-born philosopher Byung-Chul Han and his French counterpart Deleuze, Hayden questions whether people continue to exist past their physical selves through people’s memories of them, their photos, the possessions they have left behind or in this digital age, their social media imprint. “Una Luz Negra” (“A Dark Light”) is among the 10 Work in Progress (WIP) titles participating at Chilean industry forum, Sanfic Industria.

It ponders these questions in a story of two people. She is Josefina (56) and he is Jorge (45).

She has contacted him because four years ago, she lost her son who bears his exact same name, Jorge Ferrer Buriard. The coincidence is all the more unusual because the surname Buriard is uncommon in Chile and there is an uncanny physical resemblance.

Transfixed by the photos of this young man whose life was cut short at age 20, Jorge starts investigating online and through the social media accounts of Josefina’s son. Meanwhile, her son begins to haunt Josefina and his presence, manifested through sounds in the house, grows ever more unsettling.

A graduate in film direction from the Chilean Film School, Hayden has made several short films and a documentary, “Pangea,” which had its world premiere at the Guadalajara Film Festival. “Una Luz Negra” is produced by Joaquin Echevarria of Brisa Films (“Aqui no ha pasado nada”) and Benja Pinto.Hayden spoke to Variety about the shoot, why he shifted points of view and what he’s working on next:How did you