In 1978, French artist Hugues de Montalembert lost his sight when muggers threw paint-thinner in his face. Initially daunted by the loss of his keenest sense, de Montalembert learned how to cope with his own resentment and helplessness, as well as the pity of friends and the condescension of strangers, in order
to find new ways of perceiving the world and communicating his impressions. Narrated with moving simplicity and without a hint of bathos, this account of his struggle has been exquisitely illustrated by director-composer Gary Tarn, whose use of light, colour and shape challenges the subjective nature of reality and turns New York into a place that’s at once terrifying and wondrous. Rarely have the concepts of identity, memory, faith and hope been explored with such poetic courage.