A Darkness Swallowed

“A personal investigation of memory.” – B.B .

“A Darkness Swallowed opens on a pair of faded photographs showing an old dented car, one with a child standing beside it and the other without. Speaking in voice-over, Bromberg references a past event, once that will forever haunt her although it occurred before her birth. The film then sinks downward, dipping below the surface of the rational world to mine the seemingly infinite layers of the past stored within the fleshy entrails, chalky bones, sinewy spider webs and gnarled ligaments of both the body and the Earth. Noises – of clanging metal, bells, heartbeats and jazz music, to name only a few – combine to create a dense sound environment, a seemingly immense, three dimensional space for contemplation. As with all of Bromberg’s films, there are images that, once seen, will stay with you forever, and then there are the colors – rich, luscious hues to be savored slowly. Dedicated to the filmmaker’s mother, the film is also a gift to us, a reminder of cinema’s organic basis in chemistry and light, and of its ability to take us deep inside.” – Holly Willis, L.A . Weekly

“A Darkness Swallowed is Los Angeles-based experimental filmmaker Betzy Bromberg’s most abstract and most intimate work — and maybe her most beautiful in a list of films that have already shattered and expanded the viewer’s conception of beauty. The camera sensually explores a range of hues that go from the golden amber of light reflected through murky waters and resin sculptures, to the light gray and pale green of subtle, fragile Japanese-like compositions. A dark, brooding, richly textured soundtrack – non-traditional percussion, processed acoustic instruments and ambient sounds – echoes the film’s journey through a metaphorical, surreal landscape. Like a whisper, invisible traumas and imaginary memories haunt the cinematic space, sending the viewers back to their own swallowed darkness.” – Bérénice Reynaud , Redcat Program Notes