“Visual impairment has nothing to do with fulfilling one’s dreams,” says Esther Sylvester
Independent filmmaking is a great challenge, especially when it is on a subject like disability! Recreating two different worlds — real and virtual — of a person with visual impairment and giving life to his story on screen is definitely a brainstorming task. In an interview with freelance journalist Anika Sharma, Esther Sylvester, an independent filmmaker from Allahabad, talks about her uncompromising passion for cinema and music, her recent project Blind Vision and what disability means to her.
Anika Sharma: How did you get interested in filmmaking?
Esther Sylvester: “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it's a thing to be achieved.” - William Jennings
This is one of my favourite quotes and one I live by. If you want something really badly in life, you will get it as long as you don’t give up and follow that road which leads to it. Filmmaking is one of the best ways to establish a connect with a lot of people as the medium is audio-visual and the language of cinema is universal. As long as I can remember, I loved cinema. All I needed to be happy was a bunch of films and that was my world. I grew up on the classics, old black and white films like Casablanca, Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Sound of Music, The Great Escape to name a few, which may have been heavy for a child of nine or ten, but for me they created a new world. At that age, I never knew who is a director or producer, all I knew was I want to grow up and create a new world on screen and tell stories that have never been told before.
Anika Sharma: How did the idea for your film Blind Vision originate?
Esther Sylvester: Blind Vision is a film which came about when I met and learnt about the life of Manish, our case study in the film. I always use to think what role can sound and touch play in someone’s life, who could once see dreams and understand his dreaming patterns. Manish took me on a journey into his world of dreams and through dreams and reality his life’s story is pieced together in Blind Vision.
Anika Sharma: Was it difficult to direct a film on the story of a person with visual impairment?
Esther Sylvester: The job of a good director and a good film team is to recreate anything on screen and a person’s visual impairment does not make it difficult. On the contrary, it gives an opportunity to think and work out of the box, increasing the level of creativity. A good story is everything. The challenge of every independent filmmaker is to move away from convention and tell a story that’s unique. A good budget opens endless possibilities in enhancing the recreation of the story, of which we did not have liberty to. This was the only difficulty we faced, but nevertheless, achieved a positive outcome. Moreover, I wanted to tell a story that could bring meaning to someone’s life. I wanted to make Blind Vision to share something – to let other people see what a blind person sees and most importantly, feel what a person with disability feels.
Anika Sharma: Can you share a behind-the-scenes anecdote from its filming?
Esther Sylvester: This was a tragedy averted but it now is an anecdote for the entire team of the film and something that we look back and laugh upon. On the Greater Noida Highway, there were two cars, one in which the Director of Photography (D.O.P.) was filming and the other in which the sound guys were following. All of a sudden while filming, the D.O.P. felt a change in the level of light and an intense heat. The light burst inside the car and almost set his hair on fire. All of us rushed outside the car. It was a horrifying experience but these things happen at times in filming. Thank God, we were saved and the scene was shot because we were no way going to try it again, at least for that night.
Anika Sharma: What was it about Manish’s story that attracted you the most?
Esther Sylvester: Manish’s story is enduring and it is a story which needed to be told. I hope to raise enough funds one day to tell his entire life story to the world. Here is a boy who lost everything in his life including his eye sight. He is an ordinary person like you and me, no different. But the only difference between Manish and someone like me would be that he has extraordinary courage to move on in life, rise above the obstacles which life has thrown at him and move on to fulfill his dreams. Yes, he goes through times of depression and loneliness but still rises above all that and follows the ray of light in his dark world, something that we are unable to see with everything we have.
Anika Sharma: Your film shows a pattern of dreams of a person with visual impairment. How difficult was it to understand those dream patterns, sequencing two (virtual and real) different worlds, in case of a blind person?
Esther Sylvester: It was not difficult for me to understand his dreaming patterns. The main challenge was to make a film that could be understood on screen by someone who is visually impaired and someone who is not. The narration and dialogues of the film have been written keeping its relationship to both in mind.
Anika Sharma: What distinguishes Blind Vision from other short films or documentaries? What message are you intending to spread through your film?
Esther Sylvester: Blind Vision is a short film about the story of a real man and his real dreams. The story has been recreated in fiction yet everything about it is factual. The film pieces together Manish’s dreams which lead to his ultimate dream in life. The message of the film is simple: “visual impairment has nothing to do with fulfilling one’s dreams”.
Anika Sharma: How did you choose your actors, cast and crew?
Esther Sylvester: Making an independent film is an incredibly challenging undertaking. The actors and crew of Blind Vision were friends and family who came together to make the film. People with the same vision working together is what made it possible to bring to life.
Anika Sharma: Tell us about your experience making Blind Vision.
Esther Sylvester: As I said earlier, a good budget opens endless possibilities in enhancing the recreation of the story of which we did not have liberty to and that was the only challenge we faced. But we overcame that with the help of a dedicated crew and have made a film which we are proud of. The experience was a valuable one for people both behind and in front of the camera.
Anika Sharma: What about your film’s distribution? How are you planning to promote it?
Esther Sylvester: The film will be taken to the festival circuit in
Anika Sharma: What is your idea of 'inclusive cinema'? Any message for the disability sector?
Esther Sylvester: For me, inclusive cinema means making films that are 'inclusive' in every sense. That is, films that can be seen and understood by both — a person with disability and without disability. Cinema is a great medium of communication. For those with a disability of sight — the sounds and description help create and weave a story, which would give them an escape from their normal life too. For those with sound impairment — the tool of subtitles and the motion picture on screen helps transport and keep the person engaged and the meaning of the film intact. So, all in all, cinema incorporates life, sound, colour, people, stories, music et all… and above all, has no boundaries or limitations. However, I can never fully understand what a person with disability goes through, but I would like to thank Manish for trusting me with his story and allowing me to recreate it on screen. I hope that I would be successful in doing justice to a story of a person with visual impairment and make many more films like ‘Blind Vision’ to share a message that – disability is not an obstacle for anyone and one must pursue one’s dreams by moving ahead with courage.
Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBotwo3L8BM
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