Irish Film Institute -Black Sun

Black Sun

Director: Gary Tarn

2005| 70 mins UK


In the spring of 1978, Hugues de Montalembert was a French artist and writer living in New York, gregarious, successful and well connected. One night in Greenwich Village, two muggers senselessly attacked him and destroyed his sight by throwing acid in his face. In Black Sun, de Montalembert narrates his story, how he comes to terms with not only his loss of vision, but also his loss of faith, the despair and anger of his circumstances, and the physical and emotional pain he feels. Yet through his touching story, his hope and humour are evident. He reacts against the condescension he meets from well-meaning friends and therapists and reclaims his life, relearning how to walk, read and hear, determined to travel and experience different cultures. While we hear de Montalembert’s words, director Gary Tarn presents exquisite, artful images of the city where his attack took place and of the countries and communities he discovers. The result is a poetic medical-psychological suspense, a beautiful travelogue, and a deep meditation on identity and rediscovery.— Michael Hayden

The director will attend the screening.

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