Maya

Barbora Pavelcová / Czech Republic / 2025 / World Premiere / 8 min.

synopsis

Mājā – a Sanskrit term denoting a veil, illusion, or deceptive reflection that conceals the true nature of reality while simultaneously creating it. The film translates this ancient metaphor into slowly flowing black-and-white images: mesmerizing details, alternating light and shadow, flowing water that melts on the girl's face like a translucent veil. The central symbol of the film is a mirror cube – both a deception and a gateway, in which reality shatters into a dimension of reflections and opens up a space for quiet contemplation.

“Through this visual meditation, I am searching for a way to come to terms with the impermanence of the world and find harmony in it—not as an escape, but as a deeper acceptance.” — from the film’s accompanying material

biography

Barbora Pavelcová is a student at the Multimedia Studio of the Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. She creates audiovisual essays, performative videos, and documentary films. Her book Vzpomínky na pomalejší svět aneb nekonečné ticho (Memories of a Slower World, or Endless Silence, 2022) won an award in the Most Beautiful Czech Books of the Year competition. She exhibited at the Lucid Planes show at GAMU in Prague (2025).