Goodnight Nobody
Director Jacqueline Zuend
Countries Switzerland, Germany
Duration 77 min
Synopsis
Jérémie's night in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has a dusty yellow glow. Jérémie is proud to be the city's only night watchman who never sleeps. When the people are gone, the empty theater stage that he guards turns into a venue for his fantasies and dreams. The night allows him to be a director and he spends his night directing stray cats and reminiscing about women he's loved. He welcomes the night and enjoys the solitude and silence that the darkness offers him. When the rest of the world is asleep, Jérémie's world comes alive. In newspaper articles and talk shows, Fedir is known as Mister Sleepless. The retired Ukrainian is a medical phenomenon: he has not slept in 20 years. Journalists, doctors, and other insomniacs have been contacting Fedir for years. He used to participate in medical examinations, go on television and even took a night job to prove he never sleeps but now he simply longs for peace and quiet - far away from the sensation mongers of this world. In the Arizona desert, Mila cruises through empty suburbs looking for something to do. If there's one thing the American excels at, it's killing time. Years of practice have taught her how to confront boredom with wit and creativity. She makes lists, bowls in the aisles of 24-hour stores, and drives in circles through parking lots. In the midst of the melee of Shanghai, Lin Yao's nights are like waking nightmares. Pressure to perform robs this young Chinese woman of her sleep. Unlike a bedside table lamp, her thoughts - the traces of her life - can't be switched off. She can't sleep because she studies so much. And without sleep she can't study anymore. It is as if she is stuck in quicksand: she's awake but still at the mercy of the processing engine in her mind. The realm of dreams which can provide shelter in such situations is not accessible to her. Lin Yao, Mila, Fedir and Jérémie. Their stories follow the rhythm of the night, like flickering dreams in calm REM sleep. Their narrations transition between reality and fantasy and the fragments of their thoughts begin to flow and develop a suction similar to that felt by the sleepless protagonists. A hypnotic journey through the most beautiful of all film sceneries: the night.
Jérémie's night in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has a dusty yellow glow. Jérémie is proud to be the city's only night watchman who never sleeps. When the people are gone, the empty theater stage that he guards turns into a venue for his fantasies and dreams. The night allows him to be a director and he spends his night directing stray cats and reminiscing about women he's loved. He welcomes the night and enjoys the solitude and silence that the darkness offers him. When the rest of the world is asleep, Jérémie's world comes alive. In newspaper articles and talk shows, Fedir is known as Mister Sleepless. The retired Ukrainian is a medical phenomenon: he has not slept in 20 years. Journalists, doctors, and other insomniacs have been contacting Fedir for years. He used to participate in medical examinations, go on television and even took a night job to prove he never sleeps but now he simply longs for peace and quiet - far away from the sensation mongers of this world. In the Arizona desert, Mila cruises through empty suburbs looking for something to do. If there's one thing the American excels at, it's killing time. Years of practice have taught her how to confront boredom with wit and creativity. She makes lists, bowls in the aisles of 24-hour stores, and drives in circles through parking lots. In the midst of the melee of Shanghai, Lin Yao's nights are like waking nightmares. Pressure to perform robs this young Chinese woman of her sleep. Unlike a bedside table lamp, her thoughts - the traces of her life - can't be switched off. She can't sleep because she studies so much. And without sleep she can't study anymore. It is as if she is stuck in quicksand: she's awake but still at the mercy of the processing engine in her mind. The realm of dreams which can provide shelter in such situations is not accessible to her. Lin Yao, Mila, Fedir and Jérémie. Their stories follow the rhythm of the night, like flickering dreams in calm REM sleep. Their narrations transition between reality and fantasy and the fragments of their thoughts begin to flow and develop a suction similar to that felt by the sleepless protagonists. A hypnotic journey through the most beautiful of all film sceneries: the night.