BlackStar: One of the philosophies I hold closely about cinema is that it belongs to everybody. It’s a medium open not only to the mainstream but also to the storytellers on the fringes, whether they’re making fairly popular indie films, transcendental tone poems, or avant-garde art where cameras are eschewed. Everything is cinema.
For anyone truly interested in the art form, there comes a point when the mainstream output becomes insufficient, and one has to claw through the marketing and noise to uncover hidden gems. Fortunately, that’s what film festivals are for.
The 2025 edition of the BlackStar film festival, an annual celebration showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists from around the world, recently screened, among other innovative works, a film by Nigerian-Irish filmmaker Aisha Bolaji titled Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky.
Teenagers are mostly vilified, both at home and in the culture. Their experiences are undermined and they are frequently misunderstood. Bolaji, in her short film, invites us to a fable that captures the experience of those years: the love, the sadness, the feelings of isolation, and the drive to venture into new paths, refusing to be boxed in out of fear for the future or familial obligation.
Sol (Daniel Nwambu) and Diana (Anita Ikharo) are teenagers living in a quaint Irish town. The colours are vibrant, the place, serene, and at least from the outside looking in, is seemingly perfect. But our main characters are unsatisfied. Like we see at the starting point of the classic hero’s journey, yes, they are in a zone of “comfort”, but they want something: a different life for themselves.
The reasons many people would love a small town are the same reasons behind Sol’s and Diana’s apathy towards the place– everyone knows everyone else, and you are at the whim of an extended family, each member brimming with detailed suggestions of what you should do with your life. To escape their plight, the teens have an idea: build a spaceship, get in it, leave the planet behind. If that sounds completely out of left field, that’s because it is; however, if that doesn’t communicate clearly how desperate they are for a unique, more fulfilling experience, then I don’t know what will.
Even before their flight, they find ways to work around their mind-numbing routine; the first time we see them, they are in the woods, running and being carefree. Presumably, they have been working on their spacecraft, and this is clearly their favourite bonding activity. The reason they are running is because they are late for an event, and it is when they return to the town that we, the audience, begin to notice that something is off. The faces of the adults aren’t shown— they are usually cut out of the frame and shot from below the neck. In addition, whenever they speak, their voices are modulated to the point of being incoherent.
This decision highlights the teens’ alienation from their surroundings; it essentially feels like the people around them are speaking a different language, and no matter how much Sol and Diana explain their situation to friends or family, the barrier will always be in the way and they will never be truly, completely understood.
Martin Scorsese once said that cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out. Cinema is an exercise in selection; what is shown is just as important as the elements that the director, in controlling the camera, chooses not to focus on. The refusal to give any face or voice to the adult characters stresses just how much Sol and Diana risk losing by conforming to their society’s ideas; their very individuality is on the line here.
This is a good point to mention that Sol and Diana are in love. The film wastes no time in endearing us to them and their relationship. They stop to catch their breath on their way back to town, and Sol leans in to wipe something off Diana’s cheek in the most adorable manner— by this point, you are ready to follow this romance to the moon.
The event they are late for is their graduation ceremony. While there, Diana doesn’t talk to anyone else, and although she is seated a few places away from Sol, she only wants to look at him and talk to him. Sol fares better among his mates; he is given an award and the entire student body showers him with applause, while Diana hangs her head in embarrassment. Although both Sol and Diana feel like outcasts and have made the decision to leave, Sol will have a harder time taking this giant step, given how much of a life he seems to have built in their town.
Back at Diana’s house, the graduation party is in full swing. The “aunties” show up and try to impose their plans on Diana as far as her post-secondary school future is concerned, but she shuts them all down. Sol begins to have doubts about leaving for space, but Diana sticks to her guns, willing to go even if Sol will not be coming along. However, he soon changes his mind and later that night, they get into their spaceship and achieve liftoff.
For the exterior shots (Diana’s house, the spaceship) in Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky, writer-director Aisha Bolaji opts for miniatures and a children’s storybook aesthetic. This underscores the whimsical atmosphere of the short film in a way that is distinct, but also recalls Wes Anderson’s signature style. The contrast between the quaintness of the world and the angst of the characters serves to highlight the latter. The scenes are lit with expressive lighting, and shots are composed to be striking and visually appealing. Anyone else would want to live here forever, but not Sol and Diana, and this is why they need to go.
Tragically, the spacecraft crashes back down to Earth; thankfully, Sol and Diana are fine. Their work lies around them in pieces, along with their dreams and desires for freedom. Taking it all in stride, they decide to attend their school party together and dance to their heart’s content.
The description of the film reads, “When doubt starts to set in, they [Sol and Diana] have to decide whether to pursue their dream or remain in their familiar world and face the inevitable.”
Well, the inevitable has arrived. Like the adults in their lives, they will likely lose their innocence and join the “real world,” plagued by a dearth of uniqueness and personal identity.
At the very least, they have each other. Whether in space, in the sky, or on Earth, they will brave the coming upheaval arm-in-arm.
For now, for both Sol and Diana, this is enough.
Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky screened at the BlackStar Film Festival 2025, held July 31 – August 3.
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Side Musings
- There is such potent chemistry between the actors that all they have to do to sell their emotions is gaze into each other’s eyes. This happens a lot and manages to be the visual shorthand for how much they mean to each other without using unnecessary exposition.
- Their names, Sol and Diana, are an allusion to the ancient Roman deities of the Sun and Moon, respectively.
- The music, which puts the audience in the perfect mood to engage with Sol and Diana’s story, is an upbeat EDM track tinged with an undertone of melancholy.
