Silvio Soldini - Il colore nascosto delle cose (Emma)

Teo is a man on the run. From his past, from the family of his birth, from the beds of women he has spent the night with and from which he slips at the first light of dawn, from responsibilities. Work is the only thing he truly loves. He is the ideas man of an advertising agency and never calls it a day. Tablet and cellphones keep him in permanent and compulsive connection with the world. Emma lost her sight at the age of sixteen, but has not allowed her life to slide into darkness. Or rather, she has grabbed hold of it, come to blows with her handicap and then accepted it with the awareness that every day is a battle. She works as an osteopath and moves around the city with her white cane, independent and determined. She split up with her husband a short time ago and Teo, witty and carefree, seems like just the right person for a fling. For Teo on the other hand, it is all a matter of play and challenge. Emma is different from all the women he has met before and he is attracted and intimidated by her world. They are surprised by a breath of lightness, but their joyful idyll comes to an abrupt end. Each goes back to his or her own life, but nothing will be the same as before.

A few years ago I made a documentary, Per altri occhi, with blind people. It was a world I knew nothing about and one that amazed me. I came across people full of life and irony, who despite their handicap hold down jobs, practice sports, travel... Then I realized that I had never seen any of this in the cinema, that the blind were often portrayed in a dramatic, obvious manner, or with almost superpowers. So I decided to make a film of a love affair with a blind person as it happens in real life. To tell the story of the meeting between two very distant worlds, of a man who changes, of the courage to tackle life with lightness and profundity. And to present Emma and Teo as if they were two of us, two of our friends.