Where the Light Falls

Where the Light Falls, 2025, HD Video, 07:54 min

Since 2024, Where the LIght Falls has grown from Christin Berg’s ongoing research into light as both a technical and narrative force — in theatre, on film sets, and in photography, where exposure becomes a method of constructing meaning.

At its center is Emi Ogura, playing a lighting technician on set. Her daily routine is defined by artificial light — spotlights, rigs, the controlled glow she builds for the camera. Yet her mind drifts back to the natural light of her childhood home, to memories formed by daylight rather than instruments.

Set in Japan’s oldest continuously operating film studio, founded in 1926, Where the Light Falls moves between three key locations: a 250-year-old samurai house lit only by fire and shōji-filtered light; a traditional samurai film studio where these spaces are recreated as sets; and the sunlit grounds of the Kyoto Botanical Garden. Real and fabricated spaces echo each other, sometimes clashing, sometimes resonating.