From the Globe and Mail in Toronto:Hundreds of supporters of the U.S. National Federation of the Blind are planning to protest the theatrical release tomorrow in the United States of the Canadian co-produced apocalyptic thriller Blindness, a film it has deemed "offensive" to the sight-challenged.
However, a spokesperson for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) said yesterday there are no plans to picket it here.
"CNIB is not planning any protest around the movie, Blindness," CNIB spokesperson Cathy Moore said yesterday. "In fact, we haven't even seen the film."
The American organization plans to protest the movie at 75 theatres, in 21 states. Blind people and their allies plan to hand out flyers and carry signs.
The federation told The Associated Press one of the slogans will read: "I'm not an actor. But I play a blind person in real life."
Yesterday, Canadian Don McKellar (pictured) - who wrote the screenplay and stars in the film based on Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago's book - called the federation's reaction "disappointing.
"I always knew there were blind lobby groups who didn't like the book, and have been vocal about it," said McKellar, who has worked (along with producer Niv Fichman of Toronto's Rhombus Media) to get this film made for eight years. "But I also know lots of blind people who really admire the book. Look, it's a controversial book ... about a civilization that is overly dependent on sight and surfaces. But obviously this book - and the movie - doesn't in any way depict blind people functioning as they do perfectly well in the society. It's not what the film is about. It's about how people - any people - respond under crisis conditions," added McKellar. "And some people respond poorly, and some respond well."
The film, a Canadian-Brazilian-Japanese co-production, is distributed in the United States by Miramax Films, and in Canada by Alliance Films. Yesterday, Miramax issued a statement that echoed McKellar, saying: "Miramax and filmmaker Fernando Meirelles have worked diligently to preserve the intent and resonance of the acclaimed book by Saramago that is a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilization breaks down."
Earlier in the week, Marc Maurer, president of the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind, told AP he fears the movie "could undermine efforts to integrate blind people into the mainstream.
"The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie," said Maurer. "Blindness doesn't turn decent people into monsters."
Director Meirelles, an Academy-Award nominee for City of God, could not be reached. The film stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover.
The book has been praised for its use of blindness as a metaphor for the lack of clear communication and respect for human dignity in modern society.
The federation has 50,000 members and Maurer vowed the protest would be
the largest in his organization's 68-year history.
The film was the opening-night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, where it got mixed reviews. It has since been re-edited for North American audiences.
In total, the film will roll out on 1,800 screens in North America.
