Conjuring the memory of a past love in New York, director Pablo Tapia Plá blurs time in a visual meditation on longing and loss for short film The Sun Is In My Eyes. Starring Cameron Lee Phan and Britney Grasso star as its leads, the film centers memories that wash over us without warning and the emotions attached to moments that no longer exist – with the aching to return to feelings as they begin to fade.

Working in close collaboration with cinematographer Mika Altskan, Tapia Plá opted to shoot on 35mm film to give a texture and mystery that mirrored the film’s emotional landscape – finding a visual language that felt intuitive in light, movement, and letting go of control. Captured on location in New York City and its surrounding areas, The Sun Is In My Eyes reignited Tapia Plá’s love for the city he has long called home, finding beauty even in the uglier facets of his environment, much as we – and his characters – romanticize the past in retrospect.