Insomnia
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Theatrical Screenings
Kinoteka 3
Online Availability
Additional Materials
Film description
Łódź at night, seen through the windows of student dormitories. Chance encounters, snatches of conversation, and glimpses of other people’s lives in the half-light. In Insomnia, Tan Mo’s camera wanders through the student city, pausing on moments that might go unnoticed in daylight. Night becomes a space of intimacy, but also of distance, allowing us to take a closer look at people we do not fully understand. At a certain point, the perspective shifts, and the film takes us to the director’s homeland. China becomes not so much a distant country as a point of reference through which the protagonist tries to make sense of her own situation. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” she asks. With each passing minute, this simple question takes on greater weight, as if it were about something far deeper than insomnia itself.
Director’s Statement
Insomnia is a surreal documentary shaped by my personal perspective. At night, I find myself unable to fall asleep. Is it because the world is too noisy, or because my own thoughts won’t leave me in peace? Reality and dreams constantly intertwine, revealing life as a space where the boundary between the real and the imagined becomes increasingly elusive.
Tan Mo
Born in China and currently based in Warsaw, she graduated in 2018 from the Directing Department of the Polish National Film, Television, and Theatre School in Łódź. In her creative practice, documentary and narrative filmmaking have long served as mutually enriching forms of expression. Her works consistently examine cultural clashes and human dilemmas, employing an observant lens and profound philosophical inquiry to continuously expand the boundaries of cinematic storytelling.
2013 Kaktus / Cactus / Cactus
2016 Woo
2017 Bezsenność / Shīmián / Insomnia
2018 Licentia poetica / Licentia Poetica / Licentia Poetica
2021 Wschód słońca / Sunrise / Sunrise
2025 Wyznania pieprzyka / Yī kē zhì de zìbái / Confessions of a Mole
