Filipa César and Louis Henderson's 2018 film Sunstone reconsiders Portugal's role in lens-based media history

Filipa César and Louis Henderson's digital film Sunstone, released in 2018, examines the historical significance of lenses and lighthouses in Portuguese maritime conquest. The work argues that Portugal's contributions to lens technology, particularly the beaming of light, have been neglected in favor of light collection narratives in media histories. Published in ARTMargins Volume 13, Issue 1 on pages 18-39, the article by Delinda Collier appeared on February 1, 2024. It positions the film as a critical intervention in understanding how lenses shaped colonial expansion. The piece is available through MIT Press with subscription access. Sunstone prompts a reevaluation of Portugal's overlooked influence on the conceptual functions of optical devices. The article's DOI is 10.1162/artm_a_00371, and it is hosted on ARTMargins Online. This analysis connects contemporary digital filmmaking to historical technological developments.