JEANNE’S REVIEW

Who knew that there is an annual Braille Challenge held in Los Angeles? The top under-18 Braille readers and writers from all over the English-speaking world gather for a weekend of intense competition. And for the first time, three directors, Salome Cummins, Isaiah Gauthier and Christopher Morgan, all blind and low-vision students, captured the events themselves.

Aided in their efforts by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker David Grabias, BRAILLED IT documents not only the fierce --- and fast-paced --- competition, but it also proves that blind people are capable of creating stories and art through film. These incredible students were empowered to turn on --- or off --- the cameras at their will.

Christopher Morgan, a blind high-school graduate, attended the Braille Challenge for 12 years, managing to win first place 10 of those years. The speed and precision necessary when typing on a brailler is amazing, and these competitors are dedicated to this education. It’s important to all of them that the audience understands how vital the Braille Challenge is for everyone involved.

BRAILLED IT is an exceptional expose of this unique competition and the tremendous amount of work these blind and low -vision participants perform to excel at this level. But it isn’t just about that. This particular weekend is also about making life-long friends, having fun and being lauded for their skills --- not for having what some people consider a disability.

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DAVID’S REVIEW

BRAILLED IT is a documentary that features an annual competition among blind and low-vision individuals called the Braille Challenge. It is held in Los Angeles and the 50 or so contestants are chosen from those 18 and under from anywhere in the English-speaking world.

This film is unique in that several of the participants are outfitted with body cameras so the viewer essentially sees what they themselves cannot see. But we do hear practically everything they say and they do get quite emotional and excited about this event.

BRAILLED IT is not the most esthetically pleasing film to watch, nor did I find it terribly entertaining. However, to be placed in the shoes of these amazingly talented individuals is certainly a unique experience. The fact that they can read braille so rapidly and then transpose what they’ve read on paper via a machine called a brailler, a sort of typewriter with special qualities, is quite fascinating to witness.

The contestants all take their braille skills very seriously and bemoan the fact that they may not win a prize. One of the organizers states that just qualifying for this event makes them winners, but that is not enough.

For sighted people watching the film, it’s a bit unsettling from a cinema standpoint, shaky cameras et al. And we get only occasional glimpses of their faces. But we also get a deep appreciation for what it must be like to be blind. And we are aided during the production by a female narrator, Meredith Stein, who describes in detail what is happening.

BRAILLED IT is directed by by Christopher Morgan, a blind participant himself, one of three in this event, which he won 10 times in 12 years.

Two of the other directors are camera-carrying kids, Salome Cummins, a high schooler from Missouri and Isaiah Gauthier, an 11-year-old hockey fan from Canada. David Grabias, a sighted filmmaker, is the primary director.

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