Blind cinema: 'See' a film through a child's eyes

In the darkness of a Brussels theatre this weekend, cinema-goers will put on blindfolds and rely on children in the row behind them to explain in hushed voices what is happening.

"It's a very intimate, personal experience," says Britt Hatzius, the multi-media artist behind Blind Cinema, which has been more than a year in the making and comes to the Bronks theatre after performances in Edinburgh, Rotterdam and Ghent.

"Usually when we watch films in the cinema we are all together sitting in a dark space, but every single person has their own experience of the film. Blind Cinema highlights the idea that you are completely on your own."

The film being screened has been made specially for the occasion - and the children, aged between nine and 11, are seeing it for the first time when they attempt to describe it to the blindfolded adults - in either English, French or Dutch.

"The film came out of various different trials with numerous children of different ages," Hatzius says. "The age between nine and 11 is a very special age. It's a moment when children discover language - there's this enthusiasm and curiosity for language. But at the same time there's also a frustration with trying to articulate.

"I realised there's only certain films that work. They need to have a certain speed and there needs to be a simplicity in the image. It's a film that I made specifically for this experience. It plays with the affective response of the child. It has moments of surprise, tension. There's no dialogue on the soundtrack. The only words spoken are from the children."

Hatzius is still looking for English-speaking children to take part in the performances this Friday and Saturday. A mini-rehearsal will take place 90 minutes before the screening. "It's very important that the children know there is no right or wrong way of describing what they see," she adds.

So where did the idea come from? "As a filmmaker and someone with a visual background, I somehow had this moment of frustration with producing images," Hatzius explains. "We are nowadays surrounded by images and they don't have the same impact any more. This was one way of saying: so what happens if we take out the images completely?"

The project is a co-production between Bronks, Beursschouwburg and Vooruit and is part of a two-month-long festival at Beursschouwburg called The Kids Are All Right, looking at generations, family ties and legacy.

Blind Cinema, in Dutch, English and French, €10.
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November, 19.00
Bronks, Rue du Marché aux Porcs 15-17, Brussels
www.bronks.be and www.beursschouwburg.be
If your child would like to take part, email info@bronks.be