Seeing the light with a growing digital future
EXPLORING DIGITAL FUTURES Friday May 26 7.30pm Notes on Blindness
A highly-acclaimed film, Notes on Blindness, about one man’s loss of sight will play as part of the Exploring Digital Futures event at the Stephen Joseph Theatre on Friday night.
In 1983, after decades of steady deterioration, writer and academic John Hull became totally blind. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audio cassette. Over three years he recorded over 16 hours of material, a unique testimony of loss, rebirth and renewal, excavating the interior world of blindness.
Mark Kermode called the film “articulate, eloquent and soul-searching” and The Guardian reviewer Charlie Phillips remarked “the genius of the film is in allowing us to understand and visualise the world of blindness... A beautiful, accessible and thoughtful work of art.” Notes on Blindness is a multi-platform project and includes a short Virtual Reality project, Into Darkness: A Virtual Reality Journey Into A World Beyond Sight, which gives viewers an insight into what it is like to lose sight. It will be available for audiences to see before the start of the film on VR headsets. In his writing, John Hull always sought to bring blind and sighted people closer together. In building on John’s work, Notes on Blindness aims to be an inclusive and rewarding experience for all audiences.
Working with the RNIB and leading practitioners in accessibility, the filmmakers have created a range of options in which blind, partially sighted, or hard of hearing can experience the film including a new initiative with MovieReading, a free app used on your own smartphone and headphones to sync the film with a choice of soundtrack.
Tickets for the screening at 7.45 on Friday May 26 from the box office at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, by phone 01723 340541 or online www. sjt.uk.com