Blinded Angels

Colour, 35 mm
Denmark, 2006, 90 min
WP – World premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

A blind European flies to South Africa in order to take up paragliding for the last time, a sport which he used to do before he lost his sight. He hires a local woman to take him up a nearby hill. His experience of his “view” of the world through her eyes is so strong that he falls in love with her. The negative response from those around her compels the woman to take part in the blind man’s eccentric plan. This final part of the South African trilogy by the renowned Danish filmmaker develops the religious themes from his previous two films; in its total fusion of fiction and documentary, however, the film is formally much more radical. This visually stunning work, known as experimental metafilm, and screened in its world premiere, brings to life the director’s ideas about gravitation and love, and his perception of the world around him.

About the director

Jon Bang Carlsen (b. 1950, Vedbak, Denmark), film director, graduated in 1976 from the Danish Film School. He has written and directed over 30 documentaries and feature films. The distinctive style of Carlsen’s documentaries lies in his emphasis on the visual symbolism of the depicted theme, with which he enhances his stylised portraits of people on the edge and their compelling life stories. His films have won a number of prizes, including festival awards from Chicago, Odense and Tampere. Select filmography: Next Stop – Paradise (1980; feature), Time Out (1988; feature), Carmen & Babyface (1995; feature), My African Diary (1999; short doc.), Addicted to Solitude (1999; doc.), Portrait of God (2001; doc.).