A Shift in Perception, Produced by Dan Monceaux
The film, "A Shift in Perception" is a 16 minute long documentary exploring the lives of three blind women from Southern Australia. Below is a short interview with the producer, Dan Monceaux.
If you would like to read more on the film, or purchase a copy you can visit: danimations.com.au/perception
Interview:
Question:
What first gave you the idea to make this film?
Answer:
My partner Emma Sterling and I had caught wind of a council-based community development project in our hometown of Adelaide. The City of Port Adelaide Enfield council had started a project which was simply designed to give blind people in their community a voice through artwork. The blind and vision impaired are regarded as a marginalised and often isolated group, who the council felt the need to represent publicly. Of course, we were eager to help. A few months in, we entered the project with the intention of making an artistic film, illustrating recorded conversations with the three women: Edna, Leander and Rhonda. Chatting over cups of tea and discussing fears, memories, observations and dreams led us to an engaging and unique script, which we attempted to animate in a variety of creative ways, with Super8 film and a range of old cameras. I consider the piece now as a sighted team of artists' reaction to the blind person's words. By merging the three women's
stories, we also aimed to create a collective impression of the blind person's perception.
Question:
Have you made any documentaries involving blind people before?
Answer:
No, this is the first time... and it has raised our personal awareness of the challenges they face, their independence of lifestyle and spirit and the imagination and confidence they so frequently demonstrate.
Question:
What were some of the blind related issues the women discussed in the film?
Answer:
Rhonda (a woman in her 50's who had lost her sight later in life) made the most direct connections with blind awareness advocacy. She discussed the feeling of isolation 'people won't come up and speak to you... they try to ignore it (the disability) or ignore you.' She also touches upon the lack of provisions for the sightless in the community, recalling shopping trips and listening to the football on the television.
Leander, who was born without sight demonstrates an intense imagination, which she carried between her subconscious dream-states and her conscious perception. She is also a virtuoso pianist, and lives independently despite the obvious difficulties that entails.
The third woman Edna more directly embodies the spirit of independence, as she recalls riding Harley Davidson motorbikes (as a passenger of course) traveling on public transport, and keeping busy with handicrafts.
All three share their lives openly and honestly, and do so with a remarkably positive attitude. The film really is more of a celebration of these people's attitudes and perception, rather than an issues focused film. We personalize the disability to establish a deeper pathos, and hopefully a gentler, more human understanding of the vision impaired.
Question:
How long did it take you to complete it?
Answer:
We met the women around November 2005, we commenced sound recording and filming in February 2006, and the piece premiered in Adelaide in an art gallery in August 2006. It has since gone on to screen at a string of film festivals from 'Picture this' (a Canadian disability festival) to OneWorld (a human rights film festival in the Czech Republic) and IDFA (the world's largest documentary film festival). Since the film's completion, work hasn't stopped though, and we've been promoting it via the internet, scheduling interviews and reviews. We want the film to reach as many people now as possible, of course... and are rapt at how well it's been received in Europe and the USA.
Question:
How long did you know the three blind women prier to making your documentary?
Answer:
We only met them a few months prior to beginning filming. They were open with us right from the start, and were charmed by the final film. They were also present at the premiere in Adelaide, and had the opportunity to be thanked and complimented by many of the audience members for sharing their collective story.
Question:
Do you have any follow up projects, such as another documentary on disability or blindness planned?
Answer:
As documentary filmmakers, our direction will always be socially or environmentally focussed, although we have no immediate plans to make another film around the issues relating to blindness. Our next film will actually be investigating (in an observational manner) the connection between Western wealth and third world poverty. I'm shooting in Malawi in March, recording a group of school students' efforts to take some affirmative action on meeting the Millennium Development Goals pertaining to making poverty history. We also have two environmental films up our sleeve and another about migration and integration. that should keep us busy for the next two years.
You can read more about the film by visiting: danimations.com.au/perception, or by visiting Dan Monceaux's website at: danimations.com.au
.