In the darkness of a cinema space, the audience sits blindfolded. Behind each row of audience members is a row of children who in hushed voices describe a film only they can see. Accompanied by the soundtrack (which has no dialogue), the whispered descriptions are a fragile, fragmentary and at times struggling but courageous attempt by the children to make sense of what they see projected on the screen.
Based on the method of audio description, ‘Blind Cinema’ as a live event is an experience where the act of watching a film becomes a shared investment: A collaborative and imaginative act between seeing children and blinded adults. It embraces the fact that the act of trying to find the right words to describe (even if at times being ‘at a loss for words’) and of trying to hold onto the consequently unstable images created in the mind’s eye, will always only be an approximation. To articulate in words in order to share experiences involves a struggle, a struggle that seems to be closest to those in the midst of discovering language’s potential and limits.
In focusing on that which lies beyond the sense of sight (leaving the illusory reality of cinema to re-enter that of the imagination), the attention oscillates between each shared but internal world guided by the whispering voice, and the shared physical space of the darkened cinema.
The film screened during the performance will be seen by each group of children for the first time. Hence, each performance will have a new group of describing children. Each screening is preceded by a workshop with the group of children, aged between 9 and 11 (tbc), performing on the day.
//
Team
Direction / concept – Britt Hatzius
Dramaturgy – Ant Hampton
Film – Britt Hatzius, Simon Arazi, Maxim, Boris Belay
Technical design / production assistance (blindfolds / speaking funnels) – Maria Koerkel, Geert Aertsen
Children's workshop coordinator – tbc.
Creative Producer – Katja Timmerberg
Thanks to – Thomas Tajo, Georgia Venetakis, Geertje De Ceuleneer, Axel Cleeremans, Campbell Works Gallery, LABO Brussels, Susanne Dietz, Miila, Nico, Alice, Josh, Marina, Rebecca, Anne Haaning, Neil Benun, Anna Rispoli, David Weber-Krebs, Duncan Speakman (sound mix), Houle, Cunio and Bown (music) and everyone who kindly attended the many try-outs.
A co-production between Vooruit (Ghent), Beursschouwburg (Brussels)
and Bronks Theatre (Brussels).
BLIND CINEMA
PAST PRESENTATIONS:
20/21.NOVEMBER 2021
Trondheim, Norway
Language: NO
cancelled due to Pandemic.
26.SEPTEMBER 2021
Belltable Cinema
Limerick, Ireland
Language: EN
26./27.June 2020
BLIND CINEMA
Komische Oper, Berlin, DE
(German)
cancelled due to Pandemic.
21. / 22. September 2019
Arsenal Kino, Berlin
(German)
20.-22. Juni 2019
Zürich, Schweiz
(German)
25.-28. Juni 2019
Linz, Schweiz
(German)
11.-13. April 2019
Gold Coast International Film Festival
HOTA, Home of the Arts
Queensland, Australia
10.-11.Oktober 2018
Köln, Deutschland
(Deutsch)
29.-30.September 2018
Dartmouth College
Hanover, US
20.-22.September 2018
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Pittsburgh, US
5./6.May 2018
Krems, Austria
(German)
23./24.June 2018
Kortrijk, Belgium
(Dutch)
24./25./31.January
+ 1.February 2018
PUSH International Performing Arts Festival
Vancouver, Canada
(English)
11. - 12.
October 2017
FIBA International Festival Buenos Aires El Cultural San Martín
Buenos Aires, Argentina
(Spanish)
19. - 23.
September 2017
GOMA (Queensland Gallery of Modern Art)
Brisbane Festival
Brisbane, Australia
(English)
2.+3. September 2017
Riga, Latvia
(Latvian)
5.+6.July 2017
The Flare International Festival
Manchester, UK
(English)
8.+9.July 2017
Viljandi, Estonia
(Estonian)
20.- 22. May 2017
Internationales Figuren Theater Festival
Erlangen, Germany
(German)
1.- 2. April 2017
Bremen, Germany
(German)
11.February 2017
Koksijde, Belgium
(Dutch)
10.+11.February 2017
Amsterdam, Netherlands
(Dutch)
9.-12.January 2017
New York, US
(English)
26.- 27.Nov 2016
Victoria-Gasteiz, Spain
(Spanish)
12.- 13.Nov 2016
Hong Kong
(Cantonese)
7.- 9.Nov 2016
Lisbon, Portugal
(Portuguese)
28.Oct 2016
Arctic Moving Image and Film Festival
Harstad, Norway
(Norwegian)
26.-30.Sept 2016
Contemporary Arts Centre Cincinnati
Cincinnati, US
(English)
28.-30.Sept 2016
Leuven, Belgium
(Dutch)
8. - 18.Sept 2016
Portland, US
(English)
29.June - 5.July 2016
Athens, Greece
(Greek)
12.+13.May 2016
Bristol, UK
(English)
21.+22.April 2016
Birmingham, UK
(English)
7-17.April 2016
Changing Places / Espacios Revelados
Santiago de Chile
(Spanish)
6.February 2016
IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam
Rotterdam, Netherlands.
(Dutch)
5.+6.February 2016
Quebec City, Canada
(French)
29.-31.January 2016 Progress Festival 2016
SummerWorks
Toronto, Canada.
(English)
6.+7.November 2015
Beursschouwburg / BRONKS Theatre
Brussels, Belgium.
(Dutch, French, English)
24.+ 25.October 2015
During the International Film Festival Ghent, Belgium.
(Dutch)
26.+ 27.September 2015
Rotterdamse Schouwburg
Rotterdam, Netherlands.
(Dutch)
24.-28.August 2015 Forest Fringe
Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland.
(English)
PRESS / TEXT / REVIEWS / INTERVIEWS
Review, FIBA International Festival, Buenos Aires, October 2017
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/2071748-efecto-atrapante-para-escuchar-cine
Review, Contemporary Performance, New York, US, January 2017
https://contemporaryperformance.com/2017/01/10/in-performance-britt-hatzius-blind-cinema/
Review, Village Voice, New York, US, January 2017
http://www.villagevoice.com/event/blind-cinema-9517954
AEQAI, e-journal for critical thinking, review and reflective prose on contemporary visual art 2016
http://aeqai.com/main/2016/10/blind-and-not-afraid-britt-hatzius/
Preview, City Beat, Cincinnati, US, September 2016
www.citybeat.com/arts-culture/culture/article/20835167/not-seeing-is-believing-in-blind-cinema
Review, TBA (Time-Based-Arts Festival) Portland, US, September 2016
Review, Total Theatre, Mayfest Bristol, May 2016
www.totaltheatre.org.uk/britt-hatzius-blind-cinema/
Recommendation of Blind Cinema in The Guardian, May 2016
www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/22/on-my-radar-sarah-waters-cultural-highlights
Text about Blind Cinema written for Goethe Institute Toronto, January 2016
www.blog.goethe.de/arthousefilm/archives/383-Blind-Cinema-beyond-the-sense-of-sight.html
Text about Blind Cinema written by Gaëtan Gosselin
Director of Recto-Verso / Le Mois-Multi, Quebec, Canada, 2016.
download: Blind Cinema_Britt Hatzius_GaetanGosselin.pdf
http://www.jimipaulz.com/2016/06/britt-hatzius-blind-cinema.html
Radio Interview with Britt Hatzius at Flatpack Film Festival, BBC Radio 4, April 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0770qv5
Video interview with Britt Hatzius, Espacio Revelados, Santiago, Chile, April 2016
Review, Three Weeks, Edinburgh Festival, August 2015
www.threeweeksedinburgh.com/article/ed2015-theatre-review-blind-cinema-britt-hatzius/
Performance
Photo: Maria Baranova
Photo: Erich Malter,
International Figuren Theater Festival
Erlangen, 2017
Photo: Clara Wildberger
Donau Festival, 2018
Photo: Paul Blakemore
Mayfest Bristol, 2016
Photo: Erich Malter,
International Figuren Theater Festival
Erlangen, 2017