Imagine
“Imagine” screens at 6 p.m., Sunday, May 26, at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center, 400 S. Second St., in downtown Renton. Tickets are available at online at siff.net.
Here’s the film’s description from the Seattle International Film Festival.
Ian (Edward Hogg) is charismatic, confident, and blind. When Ian wanders into a renowned clinic for the blind in the center of the city of Lisbon, sheltered from the bustling world of the city, he presents his method of experiencing the world by “imagining” the landscape through which he walks and through the non-visual sensory information he can access. Hesitantly, the institute allows Ian to stay, and he develops a friendship with another blind person: Eva (Alexandra Maria Lara), who lives down the hall. He takes Eva under his wing, and he tries to teach her to experience the world without feeling vulnerable or afraid—and most notably, without a cane. Together, Eva and Ian weave through the clamoring streets of Lisbon, using their minds to envision the city without physically seeing it. Eventually, and not without skepticism from the institute, Ian begins training a small group of students in his innovative methods. Shot entirely on site in Lisbon, director Andrzej Jakimowski’s captivating cinematic exploration of blindness transmits both the thrill and the danger of blindly interacting with a world, and a desire to be free from limitations. Director: Andrzej Jakimowski. Cast: Edward Hogg, Alexandra Maria Lara, Poland/France. Portugal 2012 (105 minutes)
