For the Moon

synopsis

At the outset, the film comes across as a classic observational documentary set at the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. It follows the daily lives of students as they learn to find their way around and carry out everyday activities without the aid of sight. Gradually, however, it moves away from this seemingly objective perspective and hands the camera over to five students. The subjects become co-authors, documenting their own daily lives, thoughts, memories, struggles and artistic interests. Music, and above all sound, plays a prominent role in their personal film diaries, serving as both a means of orientation in the world and a form of self-expression. This sensitive collective portrait thus shifts the focus away from what its protagonists cannot see and towards the ways in which they perceive the world through hearing, touch and other senses. At the same time, the film challenges the notion that the image and the medium of film are inextricably linked to sight. Through the images they have created themselves, it allows us, for a moment, to perceive the world from their perspective.

“For the moon was moving from left to right, or the room was moving from right to left…” — Samuel Beckett, Molloy.

biography

Éric Baudelaire (1973) is a French-American filmmaker, photographer, artist, and originally a political scientist. In his work, which straddles the line between documentary and fiction and often employs audiovisual installations, he explores the relationships between political narrative and the blind spots of contemporary history, including the ways in which these events are represented in the media. In 2019, he was awarded the Marcel Duchamp Prize.

film details

director:	Éric Baudelaire
cast:	Kadiatou Diakite, Iris Fontanella, Crystal Lau Chang, Jade Ebara Ossebi, Mèï Jendoubi
producer:	Éric Baudelaire
photography:	Claire Mathon
editing:	Claire Atherton

contact

Éric Baudelaire
info@baudelaire.net