Blind Child

As we watch the first images of Blind Child -- of activities that require you to keep both eyes wide open -- the screen continually goes black. During these blackouts, children's voices tell us about their place in this visually-oriented world. It turns out that these are the voices of blind children who cannot see what has been filmed. Blind Child deals with the relative nature of our observations. This short film is part of a series about children made by Johan van der Keuken in the 1960s. The film imposes the children's perspective on the audience, doing so in a distant, observational manner while its energetic camera films exclusively in black-and-white. The film opens with a look at life inside the Institute for the Blind in the Dutch town of Huizen -- a safe environment in which the children can play sports, read Braille, and learn to use a guide dog. Then Blind Child takes us outside the confines of the school and we watch the children as they move through traffic, with all the dangers and obstacles this entails. In between the lines, we see how the blind experience the bustle of the city very differently but no less intensely, using their sticks to amazing effect. In spite of its sober form, this is a highly moving film, particularly in those scenes in which Van der Keuken evokes the classic "it's behind you!" response. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)