Reflective Encounters

“How does one direct a scene of intimacy, all the while ensuring the combustible synergy between two actors remains sensual and ethical at the same time? Luis Schubert’s short offers the audience a peek outside the frame, while a sex scene between a man and a woman is being filmed. The volatile situation itself is maintained by a high level of professional involvement, while an intimacy coordinator re-negotiates boundaries with the actors, giving them notes, and emotional support. However, as creative sparks often scintillate in a very controlled environment, the director’s own impatience seems to demand much more flair and improvisation than the amount mediated by the coordinator herself.

Blind Spots comments on power shifts and the tangible see-saw of interpersonal dynamics which impact on-set work. What usually remains tucked into the off-screen space is, in this case, made available to the viewer – an insider’s look at how crucial the construction of intimacy is, and how overstepping its firm boundaries can affect the process in an unsettling way. A quivery camera cannot hold these frontiers intact, and the film exemplifies how decisive a static take can be in maintaining intimacy unimpaired.”

— Savina Petkova