THE LIGHTS, THEY FALL
FEATURE / 87'
2025
director SAŠa vajda
production
VAJDA FILM
festivals
76th international film festival berlin
Sixteen-year-old Ilay aimlessly drifts through the outskirts of Berlin. His mother, Maria, lies on her deathbed, cared for by Ana, a Mexican palliativenurse. Refusing to accept his mother’s impending death, Ilay retreats further into himself, increasingly shutting himself off from reality. Through slow, contemplative imagery, the film follows Ilay and Ana in their daily routines – from Ana’s quiet dedication to Maria’s care to her struggles with addiction. Ilay works in a logistics centre, does community service and spends his afternoons hanging out at a lake with his friends. At night, he is restless, wandering the city in a sleepless daze, gradually mutating into a ghost. During one of his nocturnal outings, he impulsively steals a dog, prompting Ana to take him to a psychologist. There, Ilay reveals his deep-seated belief in the impossibility of death. As his mother’s passing approaches, it becomes less an inevitability and more a matter of mystery and speculation.
THE LIGHTS, THEY FALL
FEATURE / 87'
2025
director SAŠa vajda
production
VAJDA FILM
festivals
76th international film festival berlin
Sixteen-year-old Ilay aimlessly drifts through the outskirts of Berlin. His mother, Maria, lies on her deathbed, cared for by Ana, a Mexican palliativenurse. Refusing to accept his mother’s impending death, Ilay retreats further into himself, increasingly shutting himself off from reality. Through slow, contemplative imagery, the film follows Ilay and Ana in their daily routines – from Ana’s quiet dedication to Maria’s care to her struggles with addiction. Ilay works in a logistics centre, does community service and spends his afternoons hanging out at a lake with his friends. At night, he is restless, wandering the city in a sleepless daze, gradually mutating into a ghost. During one of his nocturnal outings, he impulsively steals a dog, prompting Ana to take him to a psychologist. There, Ilay reveals his deep-seated belief in the impossibility of death. As his mother’s passing approaches, it becomes less an inevitability and more a matter of mystery and speculation.