Bardo presents itself as a cinematic work that goes beyond mere documentary recording to delve into a sensory and poetic realm. Inspired by the Tibetan practice of yangtik, Viera Čákanyová undertook a retreat in complete darkness for several days, during which she recorded her thoughts, memories, and fleeting visions with an audio recorder. These recordings, later transformed into a voice-over with a deep and occasionally ironic tone, form the narrative backbone of the short film, which blends intimate confession with philosophical reflection.

The visual component accompanying this narration is crafted using low-cost artificial intelligence-generated images that depict the phenomenon of phosphenes—those abstract lights and shapes that appear when eyes are closed or in total darkness. The result is a flow of images in constant flux, with a texture reminiscent of the intense blacks of Pierre Soulages and the eroded surfaces characteristic of Anselm Kiefer.

Within these images, figurative fragments emerge—a tremor of the earth, a scar, a candy from socialist childhood—that fade and reappear in a continuous process of transformation. Rather than literally illustrating the text, the images and voice create a dynamic relationship: while the images seem to contain and arrest, the voice acts as a liberating element that amplifies their meaning.

Far from merely documenting a spiritual experience, Bardo operates as a perceptual device that questions the connections between technology, representation, and subjective experience. The director employs this simple artificial intelligence tool to give form to the intangible: the expansion and fragmentation of the mind during confinement in darkness. The slowing down of images and frame overlays generate a pictorial atmosphere that blurs the line between the real and the dreamlike.

Finally, the film expresses a reflection on the dissolution of the self and the desire to transcend the human condition. Čákanyová shares her longing to transform into bark, mole, or tree, thus exploring the relationship between humans and nature from a non-anthropocentric perspective. The short film’s conclusion, with a return to white light and a fragment of illuminated vegetation, functions as a counterpoint highlighting the duality between darkness and light, confinement and liberation.