WINNER OF SYMBIOSIS 2024
Noumenon
(noun) a “thing-in-itself” — an objective reality that will always be inaccessible to human perception.”
– Immanuel Kant
Noumenon is an experimental short film reflecting on the relation between reality and perception from a neuroscience perspective, and its parallels with the Hindu concept of maya, or cosmic illusion. Neuroscientist Anil K. Seth narrates his concept of controlled hallucination – how all perceptions are active constructions, brain-based best guesses at the nature of a world that is forever obscured behind a sensory veil. Through story and classical South Indian temple dance, known as Bharatanatyam, the film weaves in the Hindu philosophy of ‘maya’ – the powerful force sustaining the cosmic illusion of the phenomenal world as real.
Directed by
Janna Kyllästinen & Maya Theresia Laughton
Neuroscience narration by
Anil K. Seth, D.Phil.
Professor | Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience | University of Sussex
Krishna and the Sage | Hindu parable narration by
Maya Theresia Laughton
Cinematography & editing by
Janna Kyllästinen
Scientists at NYU Lab
Nigel Dao
Maya Theresia Laughton
Original choreography by
Bharathi Penneswaran | Aalokam Dance Company
Dance performances by
Bharathi Penneswaran | Shwetha Ravishankar | Shreyaa Suresh
Original music by
Sarah Fazendin | Violin
Noah Golub | Keys
Christopher Madison | Guitar
Anand Sookbir | Percussions
Sound mix by
Dhruv Shiva Rao
This film was made as part of the 2024 Symbiosis initiative presented at the Science New Wave Festival XVII and supported by the Simons Foundation.