Photographer-turned-filmmaker Misha Vallejo Prut debuted with a rich, handsomely crafted documentary that probes his family legacy, centered around an absent figure within their family tree.
Sometimes, a long story begins with a simple question. In Misha Vallejo Prut’s debut film, which was presented in the International Competition at the 2024 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), he questions his grandfather—a figure no one ever talked to him about until he was an adult when his uncle handed him a bag full of objects wrapped in toilet paper. Inside were two cameras from the 1930s, a small number of photographs, documents, and letters. But why had Misha never heard about his late grandfather from his family? Even when he investigates his grandfather’s photographs, Mamita, his grandmother, fails to recognize him.
In Light Memories, director Misha aims to gain a deeper understanding of his grandfather through a collection of photographs the man took, which document the society of Riobamba in the 1950s. Misha’s investigation through this album also reveals his complex relationship with his nervous mother, Inna Prut, who struggles to explain her origins because she was born in a country that no longer exists—“a city that is now occupied and at war,” Misha explains. It becomes clear that there are things his mother is unwilling to share, as whenever Misha attempts to ask her questions, she insists on revealing them “off-camera.” Although Misha’s father, Jorge Vinicio Vallejo, appears more frequently on screen, it is clear that his absence during Misha’s childhood created a distance between them. In the film, Misha tries to rebuild their relationship. He also wonders why there are no photographs of his father as a child, considering that his grandfather was a photographer. In one scene, it is revealed that Jorge strongly opposed Misha pursuing the same career as his grandfather and becoming a photographer. Unlike his parents, Misha shares a very close relationship with his grandmother. The warm relationship he has with her underscores the film’s underlying message: the necessity of matrilineal storytelling.
Light Memories unpacks family trauma and the absence of a father figure across generations. Misha strikes a remarkable balance between rediscovering the past and confronting the emotions buried for decades through lush, vivid cinematography that leads the viewer on a deeply emotional journey. The nature of memory makes Misha’s confrontational approach to the family’s issues feel more personal, which deepens the emotional bond between them. Light Memories is a deeply intimate documentary exploring the pain of familial silence, told through incredibly immersive and impressive technical achievement: the composition and color grading of each scene dazzle at each step and make it a visceral, eye-feast viewing. It is the most gorgeously lensed documentary I’ve seen this year—and since Nataša Urban’s The Eclipse in 2022.
Light Memories (Eco De Luz) was produced by Ecuador’s Mayfe Ortega Haboud and co-produced by Isabela Parra Puente for Caleidoscopio Cine and Dario Aguirre Guevara for the German company Tiempo Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG, with Taskovski Films handling its international sales.
