IMAGINE

Ian, a charismatic new spatial orientation instructor, arrives at a topnotch Lisbon school for the visually impaired. He is taking up the position of teacher with blind patients. The head teacher hires Ian under condition that the children will not be exposed to any danger as they learn to move around by themselves.

The new teacher uses unconventional methods. During spatial orientation sessions Ian quickly wins the trust of his students; a small group of children and teenagers of various nationalities. They’ve come to the school, often travelling long distances, in the hope of curing their blindness or arresting their progressive loss of sight. Ian’s techniques intrigue the children and embolden them to explore their surroundings. But more than only teaching them how to move without a white cane, Ian encourages his students to develop their vision of the world. Ian even pushes them sometimes to attempt challenges with an element of risk.

Among his students, a young woman called Eva, is especially withdrawn and secluded. Ian concentrates his efforts to make her overcome her shyness. He brings her outside the clinic without any permission to help her rediscover the pleasures of life.
 
Because of Ian’s insubordination, the Headmaster is forced to make him leave the clinic, to avoid putting the patients at any further risk. The clinic administration reveals to the students that Ian ingeniously tricked them by using a sensor in his pocket.
 
Eva and Serrano, one of Ian’s best students, have their doubts. Using Ian’s teachings, they decide one evening to leave the clinic to be confronted with the outside world and try to discover the truth about Ian.

Directed by Andrzej Jakimowski
Starring Edward Hogg, Alexandra Maria Lara
Produced by Andrzej Jakimowski, Mike Downey, Sam Taylor, François d’Artemare, Vladimir Kokh and Julien Auger-Ottavi

• Audience Award, Warsaw Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2012
• Best Director, Warsaw Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2012
• Best Sound, Polish Film Festival, London, UK, 2013
• Nominated for the Grand Prix, Warsaw Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2012
• Nominated for the Audience Award, SXSW Film Festival, Austin, USA, 2013
• Nominated for Best Actor, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, USA, 2013
• Nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Polish Film Festival 2014
• Nominated for the Golden Frog, Camerimage, Torun, Poland, 2012