The blind gaze: Visual impairment and haptic filmmaking in João Júlio Antunes' O jogo/The Game (2010)

This article contrasts two works that engage the concept of blind filmmaking. Woody Allen's dramatized portrayal of a blind director in Hollywood Ending (2002) displays ableist attitudes in both its form and content. João Júlio Antunes' O jogo/The Game (2010) exemplifies how cinema by a blind director might differ from sighted filmmaking through its formal characteristics and in its representation of disability. Analysing these films elicits significant critical questions: can there be a 'blind' cinematic style? If so, how might 'blind cinema' augment the sensory experience of both sighted and non-sighted spectators? Antunes expands his film into a multi-sensory experience that seeks to defamiliarize by deploying a 'tactile visuality', as first described by film theorist Laura Marks. The article proposes a shift towards a tactile way of seeing - a 'blind gaze' - and advocates for more inclusive filmmaking.