Staff from Canada, Brazil and Japan join to film “BLINDNESS”.
On October 20th (Monday), Julian Moore (actress), Fernando Meirelles (director), Yusuke Iseya (actor), Yoshino Kimura (actress), Don McKellar (screenplay), Niv Fichman (producer), and Sonoko Sakai (producer) appeared for a press conference for their film, “BLINDNESS”.

When asked about Julian Moore’s acting, Meirelles remarked, “Julian is a wonderful actress and she really supported the idea of this movie. As for her acting, there’s nothing for me to say—she did an excellent job!”

“Tokyo is truly an exciting city and I love Japanese culture! I’m also happy to be a part of this wonderful movie!” beamed Moore upon her first visit to Tokyo.

Meirelles explained that the cast and staff all experienced what it was like to be blind by “training them play tag blindfolded for about 4-5 hours”.

Actor Yusuke Iseya commented that “when you’re blindfolded, a car passing by you a meter away feels like it’s only centimeters away. We also trained using only the sound of a small bell to move around, and the only person we could depend on was the ‘stranger’ next to us. If you cared for that person you felt safe, if not, there was a total breakdown in trust—one of the themes this movie conveys. It was a valuable experience.”

Kimura also had a lot to gain from the blindfolded sessions. “Doing workshops to film a movie was something new to me. During the training, all I could really do was to crouch down and stay still. I felt completely frightened and helpless without sight.”

After the press conference, Sumo Master Shibatayama (The 62nd Yokozuna, Onokuni), also known as “Master of Sweets”, brought a bunch of Japanese king-size cakes as a gift. “I love cake! I love Japan!” Moore was certainly excited by this and filled the room with laughter。





“BLINDNESS” in theaters from Saturday, November 22nd
For film details