Looking at the Stars

Director’s Commentary

Alexandre Peralta on his documentary “Looking at the Stars”

»With the short film “Looking at the Stars” we first just wanted to have a look at Fernanda Bianchini’s Ballet School for the Blind, accompany her work and document it. As it turned out, the short film was just the beginning. The project became ever larger and the unexpected stories which we encountered during the project suddenly demanded more space, more time and more images. Eventually we documented not only the work of the ballet school but also the lives of the blind dancers in all their complexity. In the process the stories of Geyza and Thalia became the focus as they were just going through big changes in their lives. The dreams of these two women allowed our team to see exactly the passion that brought them so much joy in their daily lives. And we also learned that the biggest challenges these people face go far beyond the most obvious, namely their blindness.«

Director Alexandre Peralta (front row, middle) and his film team with protagonist Geyza Pereira (back row, middle) while shooting “Looking at the Stars”