Filmmaker Kelzang Dorjee’s short ‘Why is the Sky dark at Night?’ is a quiet, contemplative film that explores the mundane life of a pregnant teenager, working in a butcher shop amidst meat, blood and knives – which serves as a metaphorical theatre for her foredoomed unborn child.
Dema, a demure 17-year-old girl, lives a pedestrian life in the capital city, Thimphu grinding away in a butcher’s shop. Across the shop, there is a dingy, narrow alley and adjoined to it an empty wall which together plays as a stage for perhaps Dema’s own life, both past and present, in front of her. Through those ephemeral encounters with her customers and strangers who flicker by the shop she also discovers the city she lives in. And inside the shop amidst bare flesh, blood and knives her unborn child gets a peek into a life that will be cut off soon. But, Dema lives on.
That’s why the sky is dark at night.
The film was selected for the competition category ‘Wide Angle: Asian Short Film Competition’ at the 26th Busan International Film Festival 2021, South Korea.
