Darkness Matters

Light pollution, the human-made alteration of
natural night light, disrupts wildlife, harms health, wastes energy, contributes to climate change, and hides the universe. Today, 89% of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies; the Milky Way is invisible to 60% of Europeans and 80% of North Americans. Most people live in Bortle Class 5 or worse, where few stars are visible, and by 2050, many cities may have completely washed-out skies. Darkness Matters explores how darkness sustains ecosystems and perception. Through meditative, immersive imagery, it celebrates nocturnal and crepuscular habitats. Using a camera system able to
reproduce animal vision across multiple colour channels, it reveals how other species perceive light. Complementing this, a RED Raptor system captures
authentic 8K detail and 60 fps motion, ensuring flexible remapping for dome configurations and projection geometries, achieving an image fidelity rarely seen in immersive cinema. The journey follows altitudinal zones: from olive groves glowing with fireflies to hedgehogs and wolves roaming forests, and ibexes on Alpine rocks, culminating in the Milky Way arching above the peaks.
25 minutes long, the time our eyes need to fully adapt to darkness, the film invites to stillness. In longer generative loops (50–75 min), it reveals how light pollution transforms these landscapes, in collaboration with InfraVIS

Darkness Matters aims to co-create immersive multimedia experiences—360° audiovisuals for fulldome, VR, and exhibition spaces—to address urgent yet underrepresented environmental crises. The project represents ecosystems filling the nocturnal vault, including other crepuscular and nocturnal animals. Adaptable across formats, the meditative experience invites audiences—especially younger ones—to reconsider their relationship with darkness, light, and sound pollution. The work explores how technology can offer truthful representations, testing its role in shaping creative expression and documentary practice. As project leader and creative producer, I sought equal collaboration with artists, scientists, technology, and nature, projecting possible evolutions of landscapes through sensory, immersive environments. The project redefines documentary’s identity beyond indexicality, rooting it in today’s technocultures while questioning authenticity and truth. In partnership with biologists Dan E. Nilsson (Lund University) and Daniel Hanley (George Mason University), we employed novel camera systems replicating animal vision across chromatic and perceptual ranges, offering an other-than-human perspective. Our research questions: How can art drive transformation? Which approaches foster engagement? Darkness Matters builds synergies between art, science, and technology to preserve the past, record the present, and envision the future

The research was carried out through workshops among the interested disciplines. Its progress was shown regularly during research weeks and artistic research related events as a WIP, but not only: exhibitions spaces opened up to show the WIP and I have been publishing one article on VIS#12 in October 2024, with one more coming on ArteActa in 2026, depicting specifically the work with the fireflies and an open application to JAR. In June 2025 and September 2025 Darkness Matters was presented respectively at the ARE in Sofia Bulgaria (FilmEU conference) and in a final public symposium at the Hugarflug conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. 2026 it will be released in its final format, thanks to the commitment or intent of many Swedish and European planetaria so far to show the outcome. Through the collaboration with Vetenskapens Hus and AiRstructures it will be disseminated to the surrounding society presenting the research outcome in their inflatable domes also in schools and other venues. 2026 it will be uploaded on Diva and with a link to our website on the Research Catalogue

Dedicated to my son, Elias Theodor Lindström, my family and vanishing eco-systems. This project is only possible thanks to the financial contribution of: Fellonica Film AB: Lars G Lindström Swedish Film Institute: Anna Weitz Jenny Örnborn Stockholm University of the Arts KTH NAVET Centre for Research in Art, Technology and Design: Roberto Bresin Konstnärsnämnden Comune di Calci: Valentina Ricotta and Massimiliano Ghimenti Fondazione San Paolo The invaluable work of Irene Borgna Federico Pellegrino at Sideralis and CRAS Oliver Akermo Sebastian Dahlgren Fabio Falchi, author of the World Atlas of Light Pollution and Roberto Morbidelli, astrophysicist at INAF The invaluable work of the crew, who worked on and presentend the flatscreen version, promoting the fulldome version Alex d'Emilia Santifanti Nicola Gualandris Naomi Galbiati Nils Fridén Luca Cappelli Franco Veloz Crosscuts KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory Pinerolo Film Festival The institutions that supported us with deals, commitments, endorsement opportunities and patronage: m:brane: Annette Brejner Lennart Ström DarkSky International: Ruskin Hartley, Sarah Martin, Drew Reagan ESFA European Science Film Association: christine reisen CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Progetto LUCE: Emiliano Mori, Malayka Picchi, Alessandro Lagrotteria Accelerator: Richard Julin WIRE summit ARExhibition FilmEU - European University and Hugarflug Conference and ist Organizers at the Iceland University of the Arts CAI - Club Alpino Italiano + with particular engagement Sezione di Cuneo: Paolo Salsotto and Sezione di Pisa: Sergio Gaglioti Enrico Collo Rifugio Gardetta: Paolo Belli Rifugio Fauniera: Marco Vittori Inkind Investors: Tekniska museet: Lisa Hellmark, Mattias Desac, Jesper Wallerborg; Aree Protette Alpi Marittime: Armando Erbì, Luca Gautero, Giorgio Bernardi, Stefania Rivelli, James Beauchamp; Ljud & Bildmedia BT AB: Daniel Thisell Audio-Technica Distributed Brands Europe; InfraVis Björn Thuresson, Fabio Latino, Mario Romero, Julius Häger Distributors who believe in the project: Vetenskapens Hus (KTH/Stockholms universitet) Visualiseringscenter C: Lisa Lindgren, Anna Öst; Wisdome Malmö: Mats Fastrup, Louise Andersson; British Planetaria Association (BPA): Steven Gray Infini.to: Emanuele Balboni, Eleonora Monge; Naturhistoriska riksmuseet Cosmonova: Cristian Norlin; Zeiss-Großplanetarium Berlin: Tim Florian Horn; Reef Distribution GmbH: Dr. Peter Popp, Uwe Lukatsch Naturmuseum und Planetarium Südtirol: David Gruber Sabina Bernhard InfinityDome Lübeck Germany: Sebastian Häger, Thomas Hailer The invaluable advise of ecologists and biologists: Kevin Gaston, Dan-E Nilsson, and Daniel Hanley Karolinska Institutet’s The Division of Eye and Vision, Dept of Physiological Optics (Alberto Dominguez Vicent and Abinaya Priya Venkataram)

Funded by Fellonica Film, Lars G Lindström (SFI quality grant) and Costanza Julia Bani; SKH, internal research funds and travel grants; KTH NAVET, Small Visionary Project and Thematic Working Group; The Swedish Arts Grants Committee; Swedish Film Institute development and production grant Comune di Calci Fondazione San Paolo

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2022-2026

https://www.fellonicafilm.com/projects 

https://www.en.visjournal.nu/vis-12-costanza-julia-bani