The Sound of Dreaming

“Is this a dream or real life?” wonders Sonam (Reema Midhun Magar), one of the leads in Kalani Gacon’s The Sound of Dreaming. It’s a question that could be asked of the film itself, with a narrative that shifts between the past and the present, real- and dream-worlds, and seems to evoke notions of recurring lives experienced in cycles. Gacon’s story is based on one told to him by a friend who became preoccupied with using the idea of lucid dreaming to reconnect with a woman from his past. The film takes that premise and forges a meditation on connections made and missed as well as the notion of eternal soulmates who must find each other time and again.

In this iteration of their lives, the two are Sonam and Bikash (Saroj Shrestha). The film begins towards the end of their story, with Bikash regularly undertaking lucid dreaming to try to find Sonam, with whom he shared one magical day after he picked her up on his bike during a shift as a ride-sharing motorcycle driver. She, on the other hand, is due to imminently emigrate to Australia with her husband (Rohit Rumba) with whom she shares what appears to be a relatively affectionless marriage. As Bikash navigates a variety of strange dreams attempting to locate Sonam, the two also pass agonisingly close to one another without being reunited. In one instance, Bikash hears a karaoke song drifting through the night air unaware that Sonam is singing it nearby; in another, Sonam comes across a piece of paper detailing one of Bikash’s dreams that was fished from the gutter by a street vendor.

In the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu, the narrative could easily concentrate on these almost moments, but instead, the film feels a lot headier than that. Bikash’s dreams – which have a slightly bluer hue to denote them as visions – have an ethereal quality that lingers for even the real-world sequences. Sonam is seen lighting candles at a shrine and the same building serves as the location for their sole meeting, eventually seen through flashback, tying their relationship to the spiritual realm. Gacon does an excellent job of capturing the mood of melancholy and longueurs that afflict both of them, and the intoxicating effect of their bond, even in – for this life, perhaps permanent – absentia.

Director, editing: Kalani Gacon
Cast: Reema Midhun Magar, Saroj Shrestha, Kabya Adhikari, Rohit Rumba
Screenplay: Kalani Gacon, Maya Luna Khan
Producers: Sampada Malla, Kalani Gacon
Cinematography: Chintan Rajbhandari
Music: Shreeti Pradhan, Alia Sharp
Sound: Uttam Neupane
Venue: Oldenburg Film Festival
In Nepali
28 minutes