Films by blind directors to be screened at Tel Aviv Cinematheque

The Tel Aviv Cinematheque, in collaboration with the Library for the Blind, will hold a special screening of six documentary films on living with blindness on March 14 at 7 p.m. The directors of the films are graduates of Israel’s first directing course for the blind and visually impaired, which is led by the acclaimed documentary director and producer Barak Heymann, who is head of the film department at Beit Berl College.

At the end of the screening, there will be a panel moderated by Heymann – who often collaborates with his brother, Tomer Heymann, and who has made such well-reviewed documentaries as Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?, Comrade Dov and High Maintenance – in which the six creators will speak about their films and answer questions from the audience.

Library for the Blind

The documentary workshop is an initiative of the Library for the Blind. Eight people of all ages participated in the project, which included eight meetings and a workshop. Each participant was paired with a professional photographer, often with a background and experience in directing, alongside other prominent creators in the Israeli documentary film scene. The protagonists of the films that will be screened, as well as the directors, are all blind.

Heymann said in a statement, “The most difficult problems and questions I faced during the workshop were very similar to the workshops of sighted people. I was just trying to give them the tools. They brought their ideas and did the writing, the photography and the research, and the result is short films that are exciting, dramatic and immersive.”

The films to be screened will be Seeing the Sun in the Dark by Yaron Ben Ya’akov, Before it Ends by Amalia Hatzir, A Special Invitation by Amin Saleh, At Dawn directed by Estelle Don, Just a Weekday by Yaeli Rokah and Life in Spite of Everything by Shirley Acker.

The Tel Aviv Cinematheque has set itself the goal of raising awareness of people with disabilities and makes use of the Greta App, which makes movies accessible to viewers with headphones so the visually impaired can integrate with the audiences at regular screenings.

The program is free to Cinematheque members and NIS 10 to the general public.