Spirit
2018 · 4m
Directed by Dillon M. Banda
Genres: documentary, essay film, experimental
Tones: contemplative, tender
Shot across the landscapes of Nepal, this meditative short pairs a recited poem with reflective imagery, guiding the viewer on an introspective journey of mind, body and soul.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A poem-over-landscape meditation is exactly the kind of well-intentioned stuff that puts other people to sleep—except Banda's refusal to dramatize or lean on music feels genuinely stubborn, almost defiant in its quietness, which is weirder than it has any right to be.
Spirit situates itself precisely in the essay film lineage—Kiarostami, Valeska Grisbach—where image and recitation are equal partners rather than servant and master, and the restraint in editing (letting scenes breathe without intervention) marks a formal maturity that justifies the meditative form.
The decision to shoot in Nepal but keep the poem's interior voice untethered to the landscape—letting them remain in genuine tension rather than collapse into false harmony—is what prevents this from being pretty wallpaper.
Reviews
Shot across the spectacular landscapes of Nepal, 'Spirit' is a superlative experience of the mind, body and soul. With breathtaking pictorial beauty and the ingenious capturing of every day life's moments, 'Spirit' is the meditation every one seeks to undertake.