SHORT SYNOPSISUMBRA IS AN ART DOCUMENTARY THAT EXPLORES AN EX BODYBUILDER’S BATTLES WITH HIS BODY AND MIND. DAN AVASILCAI, MOVING FROM ROMANIA TO LONDON, WAS HOPING TO FIND SUCCESS IN THE BODYBUILDING CIRCUIT UNTIL HE REALISED THE SPORT HAD A DARK SIDE.
THROUGH A SERIES OF STYLISED VISUALS, THIS FILM SEES HOW DAN’S OBSESSION WITH HIS BODY LED HIM TO STEROID USE AND AN UNHAPPINESS HE COULD NEVER HAVE ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER, DAN’S GOALS IN BODYBUILDING HAD ONLY EVER BEEN OUTWEIGHED BY ONE THING; HIS HOPE TO HAVE CHILDREN. IT IS HIS LOVE FOR HIS SON THAT HAS CHANGED HIS LIFE FOR THE BETTER. DAN’S VOICE GUIDES THE PIECE IN A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF HIS BODY DYSMORPHIA AND THE EVENTUAL TURNING POINT THAT LED TO A POSITIVE CHANGE IN HIS LIFE.
AT ITS HEART, UMBRA IS A STORY ABOUT MASCULINITY, THE PHYSICAL FORM, AND FATHERHOOD — A FILM THAT ALLOWS AUDIENCES TO STEP INTO THE LIFE AND EXPERIENCES OF SOMEONE WHO WILL CONTINUE TO BATTLE THEIR INTERNAL SHADOW (UMBRA) EVEN THROUGH HAPPINESS.
