Blind Loves by Juraj Lehotsky

They say that love is blind… but what about that of blind people ? How is it to love somebody when one has never seen the colour of their hair or the small scar on their forehead ? Is love a phenomenon that requires a visual dimension ?

Blind Loves documents the everyday life of blind people and their love relationships. Although they do not have the use of sight, their other senses are often more developed. Peter is able to make a good guess at the score of a skier on TV by calculating the number seconds in which there is no sound. Miro, who is humorously encouraged by his girlfriend to candidate for the Guinness Book of Records, is able to track and kill 11 flies in a row. The stories first show the conflicts undergone for the sake of love and passion, before bringing them to a happy conclusion.

The starting idea and motive are powerful, but the world that Slovakian director Juraj Lehotský establishes is less than credible. This is why it fails to open up new dimensions within its chosen topic - which is what I expect the most from a documentary. Sensitivity towards disabled individuals is very important, but love - the inputs and the outputs of it - is not always as kind as this film would make you think.

Esra Demirkiran