The Wake of the Gods, film still, 2026
Floating Witcheries
Most of my recent films transport their viewers to moisture-saturated microcosms - twilit underworlds where flowers and foliage abide under layers of water, sheltered from the sky. For a period recently, though, I took to filming the sky at night, peering up into the deep darkness that ultimately extends out into the fathomless reaches of space. Originally, when setting out on this nocturnal project, I’d planned to focus my camera on the moon, not because I wanted to create an accurate, representative image of the lunar sphere; instead I aimed to engage with the moon as more of a mysterious, mythological presence - a deity holding sway over the dreaming night world. Over time, though, I became more drawn to the way the moon cast its illumination over the attendant clouds. There was something weird about these lunar clouds, the way their colours seem to shift in proximity to the moon, and the odd forms they seemed to suggest to the camera as they grew dark - strange shapes in the terminal dance of low-light pixels. I had, no doubt, the camera on the wrong settings to film at night but I decided to abide with these expressive misrepresentations, accepting them as part of the project’s emergent aesthetic. Reviewing one of the sequences I filmed, of clouds against the black sky, I was reminded of painted surfaces, suggesting to me that the camera was panning across the time-darkened surface of an aged Romantic painting, where Gothic forms lurked. At other times, I was reminded of waves, eroded planetary surfaces or vague animal forms. The sky was filled with clouds of fox fur. The 12-minute film that has emerged from these sessions, now entitled The Wake of the Gods, floats freely into night’s psychological regions, where a pageant of cloud becomes a darkening stream of floating witcheries.
The Wake of the Gods can be watched here:
https://vimeo.com/tobytatum/thewakeofthegods
If you do decide to press play, I’d recommend watching the film in the dark, ideally at night. Also, the film should play smoothly. If you encounter any playback issues, I’d suggest adjusting the quality to a lower setting. I’ve also enabled downloads, in case you’d prefer to watch offline. However you do so, I hope you’ll enjoy your voyage across the expansive mysterium of the night.
The Wake of the Gods, film still, 2026
The Realms Beyond the Screen
My film The Realms Beyond the Screen has been programmed to screen at Towner Cinema, Eastbourne, on 31/07/26. The showing forms part of Towner Lates, an evening of events which includes sound performances and exhibition openings. The Towner’s evening of films, which will be screening on a loop throughout the night, has been programmed by Volta Artists’ Moving Image, who describe themselves as “a newly established forum for artists, researchers and programmers working with the moving image and experimental film/video along and around the UK’s south-east coast”.
Made in 2024, The Realms Beyond the Screen drew from a rich body of literature on altered states of consciousness and neo-psychedelic reporting. Also, I dived fairly deep into fairy lore and records of near-death experiences - heady material from the fringes. As an artist, I felt no need to reconcile these overlapping influences, or devise some sort of theory or take on this material, and was happy to accept it all as a stream of super-nutrients feeding into the film.
For Towner Lates tickets and further information, visit:
https://townereastbourne.org.uk/whats-on/towner-lates-summer
Cinéastes who can’t make the screening but would nevertheless like to watch The Realms Beyond the Screen can do so here:
https://www.tobytatum.com/therealmsbeyondthescreen
The Realms Beyond the Screen, film still, 2024