Dreaming is not Sleeping + Director Q&A

CLUB 18+100 min

Synopsis

The Irish premiere of Rouzbeh Rashidi’s latest experimental feature film, Dreaming Is Not Sleeping (2025), will take place at Light House Cinema in Dublin on Saturday, May 3rd, at 7 PM. The project was made possible through the support of the Arts Council of Ireland and expands upon the lyrical film-essay style Rashidi introduced in his 2023 work, Elpis. Over the course of two years, the filmmaker immersed himself in haunting ruins and abandoned landscapes across Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Ireland to capture the film’s evocative imagery.

Set against desolate backdrops and narrated by a spectral voice, Dreaming Is Not Sleeping contemplates themes of memory, existence, and temporality. Utilizing an immersive, dreamlike aesthetic, the film dissolves boundaries between past and present while exploring clairvoyance, impermanence, and humanity’s collective struggles. Its concluding sequence invites viewers to reflect on consciousness, meaning, and the ephemeral traces we imprint upon the cosmos.

Following the screening, filmmaker and artist Bob Gallagher will moderate an in-depth Q&A session, providing audiences with a rare opportunity to engage with the film’s creative methodology and thematic complexities.