“The fact that someone is born to ‘darkness' calls for a number of questions about the ways these people live. One of the most important, in my opinion, is, Where is the source of their happiness? Their world might be lacking sight, but it can be richer in spirituality.… Maybe it's they who really understand the true essence of happiness.”
– Juraj Lehotský
Artfully composed and compassionately drawn, Blind Loves reveals an entirely new dimension to the idea of love. Director Juraj Lehotský focuses on four blind people and the unique pathways to intimacy they develop with their partners.
Peter, a music teacher at a school for the blind, and his wife, Iveta, live in a tiny apartment, but simultaneously occupy a vast and amazing imaginary world. Miro and the partially sighted Monika are in love, but the relationship is made complicated by her parents' objections to Miro's Romany ethnicity. Elena and Laco are expecting a baby – and their fears, hopes and dreams for their unborn child are magnified by the fact that they are both blind. Then there is fourteen-year-old Zuzana who, like any teenager, whiles away hours in online chat rooms and longs to fall in love. She is about to start high school, where she will be the only blind student, and worries that she will have trouble fitting in with the other teens. Each of these individual's stories offers a uniquely tender and humorous perspective on the world.
In his first documentary feature, Juraj Lehotský examines the unique forms that love and happiness take when shared by the blind. Without the distraction of sight, their emotional and spiritual connections are vividly heightened, which cannot help but provoke thoughts about what love means – or lacks – in the “sighted” world. Lehotský sensitively delves into his subjects' innermost lives without resorting to cliché or sentimentality. Instead he finds a charming and witty visual language to express their unique and imaginative perceptions of the world.
Dimitri Eipides
Juraj Lehotský was born in Bratislava, Slovakia, and studied documentary film directing at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava. He has directed a number of music videos and short documentaries, including Silent World of Jožka Baláža (95), With Enough Effort We'll Have Diplomas (96), A Funeral Is Actually a Premiere (97), Unwanted Children (98), Twins (99), I Wouldn't Tell I Would Love You So Much (00) and Interview (01). Blind Loves (08) is his first full-length documentary feature.