Spirits and Spaces Film Now Streaming on YouTube Worldwide 29 May 2026 | Film & Television
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Gabriella Blumberg Translates Roger Ballen’s Surreal Imagery Into Motion
By Underground Press
Published Friday, 29 May 2026 12:04
An experimental short film, Spirits and Spaces, inspired by the book of the same name by world-renowned photographer and artist Roger Ballen—his first publication in colour—enters the strange psychological terrain that defines the Ballenesque: a world that is chaotic, absurd, and deeply subconscious.
Now available to view on YouTube, the film was created as a companion artwork to the book and directed by Gabriella Blumberg, with director of photography Gavin Pincus and creative director Marguerite Rossouw. Spirts and Spaces unfolds as a journey through a transitional interior world of rooms and spaces.
In it, a lone spirit awakens in a coffin and wanders through a sequence of 6 rooms inspired by chapters from Ballen’s book, each embodying a distinct state, as the walls breathe, shadows detach, and the world erupts into chaos around him - transforming the photographic themes into living spaces.
“Creating Spirits and Spaces felt more like making a documentary than a work of fiction—as though placing a camera within the mind of Roger Ballen,” says Blumberg. “The film invites viewers to step beyond the surface of each photograph and inhabit its liminal space.”
“This is the first photographic book and film in my long career of nearly six decades that I have expressed my world in colour,” says Ballen. “This place should be viewed not as a location that is real versus unreal, but as an uncanny spot that exists somewhere in each of our minds. Upon viewing the film and images, you will be unclear as to if whether and when you have ever been to this Ballenesque universe.”
“We are thrilled to launch the film on YouTube alongside the release of the book, allowing audiences immediate access to experience both works in dialogue with one another. Presented simultaneously, the film and book encourage us to engage with the project as a unified and immersive experience,” says Blumberg.
The film is available to watch on YouTube
Spirits and Spaces is published by Thames & Hudson and is available on Amazon worldwide, and Takealot in SA
Roger Ballen’s transition into color feels fascinating because it expands his dreamlike universe without losing its unsettling atmosphere. The film transforms still images into moving psychological spaces where every room reveals another layer of mystery. It creates an immersive experience that lingers in the mind long after viewing. Even fans of basketball stars 2026 can appreciate its unusual visual storytelling.
Roger, your new "Spirits and Spaces" film is an absolute psychological masterpiece. Seeing your claustrophobic world expand into color, thanks to your collaboration with Marguerite Rossouw, adds a completely new layer of unsettling depth. Even when you Compress Video files to stream this madness worldwide on YouTube, the raw, suffocating friction of those wallpapered wooden panels remains entirely intact. Thank you for always daring to expose the bizarre, beautiful tragedy of our shared human condition. This is truly magnificent art.
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