Title: Per Altri Occhi (Other Eyes)
Director: Silvio Soldini and Giorgio Garini
Starring: Enrico Sosio, Giovanni Bosio, Gemma Pedrini, Luca Casella, Felice Tagliaferri, Mario Santoni, Aldo Grassini, Daniela Bottegoni, Claudio Levantini, Michela Marcato, Piero Bianco, Loredana Ruisi.
The documentary by Silvio Soldini and Giorgio Garini, focuses on the world of the blind. An extraordinary group of ordinary people, who have the handicap of not seeing, lead their daily lives with great energy and skill. Ten hyper-active individuals work, enjoy sports, from baseball to sailing, from skiing to archery.
Enrico is a physiotherapist, and as soon as he has time off he goes sailing; Giovanni is an entrepreneur who loves to ski; Gemma loves to play the cello and takes skiing contests; Felice is a sculptor who plays baseball; Luca is a musician who cultivates photography; Loredana is a telephone operator with the passion for archery; Mario is retired, but is relentless in his passion for sports; Piero is an I.T. Consultant; Claudio and Michela are a couple who enjoy to joke about how the world interacts with their disability. These are ten ordinary day heroes, who set a great example to how complaining on misfortunes leads nowhere. As a matter of fact they are more active than people who can see perfectly.
‘Per Altri Occhi’ (i.e. ‘Other Eyes) will be presented during the World Sight Day (WSD) promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), as point of convergence on the topic of preventative measures with regard to ocular illnesses. This annual day of awareness, is held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment.
This delicate documentary avoids any kind of sycophancy from the directors, nor do the blind protagonists account their lives feeling sorry for themselves. On the contrary the chronicle proves how “seeing” through “other eyes” can make life more than worthwhile.
Technical: B+
Story: A
Overall: A-
Written by: Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
