People Next Door

A lithe, quicksilver portrait of a woman whose loss of sight only serves to sharpen her creative imagination. This standout directorial debut feature for screenwriter Eskil Vogt retains many of the literate, self-reflexive touches he brought to his collaborations with helmer Joachim Trier while finding its own alternately droll, sexy, heartbreaking rhythms.

Compiled from four stories illustrating just how rich their world is, the film explores the different forms of love experienced by the visually impaired – a world that is very often much brighter and more colorful than our own.

Sight-impaired instructor Ian arrives at a renowned boarding school to acquaint a group of similarly disabled students with the techniques of spatial orientation. The group is soon well-attuned to his unorthodox teaching methods; however, their increasing desire to learn more about their surroundings brings with it a painful discovery. A poetic film about the boundless imagination that awakens from a world of perpetual darkness.

Al Pacino took on the renowned role played by Vittorio Gassman in this American remake of Italy’s Profumo di donna, and he won an Academy Award for his efforts. The original comedy shifts closer to a psychological drama, and while the love of a devoted beauty won't save blind Lt. Col. Slade from bitter loneliness, as it did Italian Capt. Faust, concern for someone who is wrestling with an oppressive moral decision does the trick.

A report from the world of visually impaired children attending the Jaroslav Ježek school in Prague who have taken up photography as a hobby. Their photographs help create new bridges between the two islands of our world: between the seen and the unseen.

Leo is now fifteen and would like to live his own life. But since he’s blind, everyone around him is constantly trying to provide unasked-for assistance. His routine days are suddenly altered by the arrival of a new classmate – and by the intense feelings he has for the boy. Tenderness and spontaneity are the common denominators in an emotionally charged picture of first love and self-discovery.

A delicate Indonesian film about love that introduces us to a group of blind kids; they may not have a clear vision of the future but that doesn’t mean they don’t dream – on the contrary. This poetic work captures moments we might otherwise tend to overlook, and it demonstrates that the loss of one sense doesn’t necessarily mean we forfeit a colourful view of the world.