Born to Be Blind

Three blind sisters from Campina Grande in Brazil have been making a living for years by singing in the street. They have beautiful, endearing voices. They manage to get by with other people's help, although their stories reveal that they have often been treated badly. This started with their mother, who gave the money that they earned to her boyfriends. The sisters bask in the attention they get from director Roberto Berliner, who follows them for a couple of years. Maria, the sister who has been married twice and has a teenage daughter, sees it likes this: If a film is made about you, you're worth something. Radio and TV crews visit them, and they even get the chance to perform for a few thousand people. Using metaphoric images of a roller coaster, Berliner visualises what is happening to the women at this stage, as he does throughout the film. These artistic interludes evoke the director's past as a music video maker. The blind sisters are occasionally alone with the camera, which yields striking sequences, such as when they awake in the morning and grope for their slippers and clothes.