In addition to a being packaged with a virtual reality experience at selected theaters, notes on blindness is being released in formats for blind. She has worked tirelessly at archers mark to see the film through from its development phase into physical production in the summer of 2015. Through johns wordsi am concerned to understand blindness, to seek its meaning to retain the fullness of my humanitywe hear him question eloquently the nature. The project, backed by the british film institute and film4, comes from peter middleton and james spinney, who were baftanominated for their innovative doc notes on blindness. The film was written by don mckellar and directed by fernando meirelles, with julianne moore and mark ruffalo as the main characters. Notes on blindness is john hulls trip from darkness to. Maximising its accessibility, notes on blindness is available in audiodescribed and enhanced soundtrack versions, the latter transforming the film into a singular aural experience. Jul 01, 2016 notes on blindness uses the aural diaries of the late academic, john hull, to tell the absorbing story of what happened following his loss of his sight in 1983 at the age of 45. In order to make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audiocassette. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, hull began documenting his experiences on audio cassette and wrote his autobiography touching the rock.
Sensitive, poetic and thoughtprovoking, the film charts hulls journey through. Notes on blindness 2016, directed by pete middleton and. Excerpts from those tapes, interspersed with more recent interviews with john and his wife, marilyn, make up most of the soundtrack of notes on blindness but it would be wrong to call this a documentary. The project premiered at the 2016 sundance film festival new frontier exhibition. Notes on blindness was the basis for a major documentary in 2016. The 2016 british independent film awards bifas were held at old billingsgate market in london on december 4.
Notes on blindness is a 2016 documentary film written and directed by pete middleton and james spinney. Over three years, hull recorded over 16 hours of material creating a story of loss, rebirth and transformation. It was awarded the storyscapes award at the 2016 tribeca film festival and the alternate realities vr award at sheffield docfest 2016. Its an ambitious and groundbreaking work, both affecting and innovative and one of the most essential british documentaries of the year. Notes on blindness encompasses dreams, memory and imaginative life, excavating the interior world of blindness. Its an ambitious and groundbreaking work, both affecting and innovative and one. Not a gift i want, but it is a gift days before the birth of his first son, writer and academic john m. The film was released in the uk on 1st july and is still playing in a handful of cinemas. Nov 23, 2016 notes on blindness is john hulls trip from darkness to light by stephen holden the new york times.
Hull, who died last year, recorded his thoughts on blindness on tape, at first daily, then less frequently as time. This channel was generated automatically by youtubes. Notes on blindness is available in audiodescribed and. The first of these, rainfall, won the best short documentary award at hot docs 20 and was nominated for the ica experimental film award. Notes on blindness trailer 2016 trailer for the documentary notes on blindness. In the summer of 1983, just days before the birth of his first son, writer and theologian john hull went blind. Notes on blindness 2016 dan renton skinner and simone kirby in notes on blindness 2016. Saramago originally refused to sell the rights for a film adaptation. It produces what interactive storytelling has long sought to achieve, without ever succeeding. Drawing on johns original recordings, notes on blindness premiered at the 2016 sundance film festival and won the special jury prize at the san francisco international film festival. Following on from the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, notes on blindness is an ambitious and groundbreaking work, both affecting and innovative. Jun 22, 2016 notes on blindness takes us on a surprisingly poignant and beautiful journey through the eyes of a man who tragically lost his sight just days before the birth of his son. The original trailer for the multiaward winning feature film notes on blindness for which i won a golden frog for best cinematography in a docudrama notes on blindness 2016 feature trailer on vimeo.
While the feature film is marked by its lush, expressive cinematography, the vr project is an attempt to navigate the experience of blindness. Into darkness is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary digital experiences of recent years. It is a sort of line blurring docudrama, but even that sounds wrong. Sep, 2016 notes on blindness is hard to put into words he says, as he puts it into words. In 1983, author, teacher and theologian john hull 19352015 went blind after years of declining vision. Jun 16, 2016 in the early 1980s, after decades of steady deterioration, writer and academic john hull lost his sight. It has been supported by creative england, british film institute, impact partners, arte france, swedish film institute, bbc storyville, cinereach, britdoc, new york times and. This was followed in 2014 by the emmy awardwinning short, also entitled notes on blindness, which screened at sundance film festival and won best documentary at encounters short film and animation festival. He would lose his sight entirely, plunged into darkness, unable to distinguish any sense of light or shadow. Experience notes on blindness, directed by peter middleton and james spinney, with an enhanced soundtrack which uses more original narration from john and marilyn to tell the story, along with extra sound design and music.
Notes on blindness is a compilation of the authors audio notes, made over the course of the years following the loss of his sight. Following on from the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, notes on blindness is an ambitious. Perhaps the best, and simplest, way to describe it is this. Cinereach develops, produces, coproduces, finances, and supports featurelength films crafted for the big screen. The genius of the film is in allowing us to understand and visualize the world of. Notes on blindness 2016 letterboxd social film discovery. The debut fulllength documentary from directors peter middleton and james spinney, it may seem complicated in its assembly, but has a final impact that is luminously simple.
This index lists many of them, including fiction, nonfiction and hybrid feature films. Notes on blindness trailer iffr 2016 by international film festival rotterdam. Hull, marilyn hull, miranda beinartsmith, jamie bradley. Jojo ellison producer produced the emmy awardwinning new york times opdoc notes on blindness, upon which the 2016 feature film is based. Into darkness is produced by ex nihilo, arte france, and the french startup audiogaming, in coproduction.
Written and directed by pete middleton and james spinney starring dan renton skinner, simone kirby, john hull, marilyn hull. Notes on blindness 2016 in 1983, when writer john hull goes blind just before the birth of his son, he starts making a diary on audio cassette to make sense of all the changes. You cant help but become acutely aware of your eyesight if youre lucky enough to have it while watching a film about living with blindness. Notes on blindness takes us on a surprisingly poignant and beautiful journey through the eyes of a man who tragically lost his sight just days before the birth of his son. Into darkness is produced by ex nihilo, arte france, and the french startup audiogaming, in coproduction with archers mark. Nov 16, 2016 notes on blindness, a documentary based on the theologian john m. Into darkness, an immersive virtual reality vr project based on johns sensory and psychological experience of blindness the interactive experience complements the story world of the feature film. Having lost his sight in 1983, just before the birth of his son, theologian john hull began recording his experiences of blindness on a tape recorder. Notes on blindness is a moving, intimate documentary, a triumph of sound and image, and a poetic examination of love, loss, memory and marriage.
Jul, 2016 the film notes on blindness uses those recordings lipsynched by professional actors to recreate john hulls experience in one of the most poignant films to date in 2016. The pair were given access to a personal archive of the silentmovie star that includes previously unknown material and also have newly unearthed audio recordings. When directors pete middleton and james spinney do clever things like keeping bits of information and action offscreen while we hear hulls frustration over having to ask for descriptions of whats happening, the film achieves its goal. Lipsyncing his voice from the tapes to reenacted scenes of his daytoday life and staging the vivid dreams he began to have, the filmmakers have created an absorbing documentary that explores a. Alongside the premiere of the feature film, sundance 2016 saw the unveiling of notes on blindness.
Notes on blindness opened in us theaters on 16th november 2016 find your local screening here. Feb 09, 2017 notes on blindness is a compilation of the authors audio notes, made over the course of the years following the loss of his sight. Following the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, the feature version of notes on blindness takes a creative approach to the documentary form. Hulls memoir, subtly evokes sightlessness with figures in silhouette. Notes on blindness watch online full movie documentary mania. Based on the audio diaries of academic and theologian john hull, this film offers an impressionistic. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began documenting his experiences on audio cassette. Written and directed by pete middleton and james spinney starring dan renton skinner, simone kirby, john hull, marilyn. Honourable exceptions include british filmmaker gary tarns 2005. After losing sight in 1983, john hull began keeping an audio diary, a unique testimony of loss, rebirth and renewal, excavating the interior world of blindness. Notes on blindness traces one mans difficult journey and emerges with a reflection on the.
In 1983, after decades of steady deterioration, writer and theologian john hull became totally blind. He knew that if he didnt try to understand his blindness it would destroy him. Following the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, notes on blindness takes a creative approach to the documentary form. Upon their publication in 1990, oliver sacks described the work as the most extraordinary, precise, deep and beautiful account of in the summer of 1983, just days before the birth. John hull had suffered from deteriorating vision since he was a boy, but even years of forethought cannot prepare you for the complete loss of such an integral sense. Notes on blindness is a 2016 british documentary film directed by peter middleton and james spinney. Notes on blindness uses the aural diaries of the late academic, john hull, to tell the absorbing story of what happened following his loss of his. Notes on blindness 2016 tvpg 1h 26m dramas based on the audio diaries of academic and theologian john hull, this film offers an impressionistic recreation of his slow descent into blindness. As such, its quite a fragmentary book, but nonetheless a very insightful im not sure thats really the right word to use in this instance. Notes on blindness, a virtual reality journey into the world.
One of john hulls original tape recorders, in a still from the film. Hull, a professor of religion at the university of birmingham in england, lost his eyesight and began the agonizing personal journey to hell and back that he describes in the magnificent documentary notes on blindness. But the central conceit of notes on blindness is to emulate hulls descent into blindness using visuals. Following the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, notes on blindness takes a creative approach to the.
Jul 01, 2016 directed by peter middleton, james spinney. Notes on blindness is an extraordinary film that wears its original genius lightly. The film notes on blindness uses those recordings lipsynched by professional actors to recreate john hulls experience in one of the most poignant films to date in 2016. The feature film received its world premiere at the sundance film festival new frontiers section, where it played alongside a companion virtual reality experience, notes on blindness. To promote the feature film notes on blindness, francogerman tv network arte has released an impressive virtual reality vr experience called notes on blindness. To help him make sense of the ensuing upheaval in his life, he began to keep an audio diary. Upon their publication in 1990, oliver sacks described the work as the. Adventurous and intimate and unworried by the wall dividing fiction and nonfiction, peter middletons and james spinneys debut, notes on blindness, is a wondrous film, a thing of magic and a.
Hull, who became totally blind after decades of steadily deteriorating vision. It was the first time the recording had been played for almost 25 years. Notes on blindness, a documentary based on the theologian john m. Following the emmy awardwinning short film of the same name, notes on blindness takes. When the australianborn theologian and university lecturer john hull went blind in the early 1980s after decades of struggling with his sight, he started recording audio diaries. Since 2006, we have worked with over 200 film projects set all over the world.
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