The Long Way Down premieres at Sundance

The Long Way Down had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection in the Documentary Short programme.

One staircase, one day

Lena Duarte’s film watches a single 284-step spiral staircase from the top, over one ordinary day. There are no interviews and no narration. People climb, rest, talk, carry things, and leave. The camera never moves.

The idea came from a location scout for a different project. Lena stood at the top of the stairwell for twenty minutes and realised she didn’t want to look anywhere else.

Why a locked-off camera

We tested moving shots, a slow descent and a drone pass, and every one of them made the staircase about us. A fixed frame makes it about the people. Ray Santos framed the spiral so the rail draws the eye in, and we left the camera on the same tripod from first light until the building closed.

“A locked-off camera is a kind of promise. It says: nothing here will be made more dramatic than it is.” — Lena Duarte

Sound did the rest. We recorded the stairwell all day, and the film is cut to footsteps: quick, heavy, hesitant, a child taking two at a time.

Making it with Arte Shorts

The film was produced with Arte Shorts, who backed it from a one-page treatment and a single still frame. Harry Coleman produced, and Noa Berg handled the permits that let us occupy a public building for a whole day without closing it.

Hana Kim edited thirteen hours of footage into eleven minutes. The grade follows the real day, from cold morning blue to the warm tungsten of the evening lights.

Where to see it

After Sundance, The Long Way Down travels to festivals through the spring, with its broadcast premiere on Arte later in the year. We will post screenings here as they are confirmed.

Thank you to everyone who climbed those stairs on the day, and to the building staff who put up with a tripod at the top for fourteen hours.