"These Celestial Things Happen" Explores the Psyche of a Solar Eclipse

The 2023 a Total Solar Eclipse took place in Exmouth, Western Australia, a tiny remote town on the edge of the Earth. This once in a lifetime event attracted 20,000 people from around the globe to watch, as the moon and sun came together for one enchanting moment. Artist and filmmaker Samuel Fisher traveled for three days from Los Angeles, California to document the bizzare and oddly inspiring scene. The result of his findings is “These Celestial Things Happen,” a short film shot on Super 8 film.

The six minute film that leans into the feelings of the event as much as the facts. The question is posed, "Why would so many people travel so far to watch the sun disappear for just 50 seconds?" Maybe it’s a reflection of the world’s collective dark night of the soul brought about during covid, or a yearning to feel small & apart of something bigger than yourself. Whatever the reason for going into the middle of nowhere to see this sight, it was worth it.

As shown in the film, there is something powerful and strange about day becoming night, as the Earth goes cold, everything comes into clear focus with the balance of the sun and moon.

The film places us underneath these behemoths as they look down, watching as we scurry and worry about. The film serves up the thought that we are here together on a strange planet, floating among the heavens, dependent on the light of the sun... and how sweet a thought it can be, if only we could all come to think it together.