Sammy Selin

Once Upon a Shadow Dimension is an abstract experimental film that takes the audience through a surreal narrative of parallel selves and inter-dimensional sabotage. The film is a culmination of ongoing research using shadow as a metaphor for our digital entity and explores narrative as a method of analysis for the connection between our physical bodies and our digital personas. 

Technological advancement has reshaped the physical body into a digital skeleton of information. Physical presence becomes only a small part of our experiences as our lives become increasingly digitized. The rise of the digital persona creates an identity diaspora that exists beyond the normal range of perception within our physical reality. Over time, the digital self begins to lead a life beyond the control and knowledge of the corporeal self.

Similarly, shadows are an intangible extension of our physical bodies. They are a distorted representation of our physical form that we cannot shake nor materialize. Much like our digital identity, shadows are an image of a secondary self that we have limited control over. Physical bodies may provide the substance for the shadow, but external forces dictate the manifestation and form. 

The use of narrative illustrates the relationship we have with our digital self. Power dynamics between the physical and the digital are highlighted through the lens of science-fiction. The tension becomes palpable in a speculative world where your alter-dimensional self steals your shadow. You are transported into a parallel universe without any autonomy or control. Your sense of reality gives way to the parallel self, rendering you stuck inside a dimension you cannot claim.