Somnus Paralysis (Incubus)


[ PROJECT STATEMENT ]:


Once a month a dark intruder visits me in my sleep. He’s omnipotent, unapproachable and threatening. Suddenly I become the visitor - the tourist in my dreams. Every wall is a door and every door becomes a wall. Red becomes the color of the light at the end of my tunnel that has no end. Light becomes a refuge and an enemy. It reveals what I want to conceal. Running feels like walking and walking feels like quicksand. My mind is awake but my body is still sleeping. The intruder is in the room and I can’t lift a finger from where I sleep.

This film is a 5 minute non-linear narrative I created to make the intangible images that occur during my sleep paralysis episodes into a tangible experience for others who have not gone through the experience themselves. It is a "dark" piece talking to the experience of this particular category of dreams. Dreams influenced by sleep paralysis are their own category and are often categorized by the dreamers as having a dark and evil presence within them.


All images are (C) Sharlotte Fondeur-Casas, 2021