Filmmaker Binoy Karamen shares his journey of making Blindfold with students at Pondicherry University
The Department of Electronic Media and Mass Communication at Pondicherry University hosted an enlightening lecture on “Creating Inclusive Cinema for Visually Impaired Audiences” by
Mr. Binoy Karamen, a visionary in the field of inclusive cinema, on October 16 and 17. The event was held at the DEMC auditorium aimed at promoting inclusivity in cinema by exploring ways of filmmaking to make films accessible to visually impaired audiences.
Mr. Karamen is the director of the world’s first cinema made from a blind person’s perspective, marking a shift in the realm of filmmaking. His passion for photography and filmmaking made him achieve an associate degree in digital filmmaking from SAE institute in Bangalore. He also founded Lighthouse Media in 2011, a company devoted to conveying cinematic concepts through non-visual means.
Mr. Karamen’s presentation sparked interesting discussions among attendees about how to make art or rather cinema accessible to everyone. The attendees had an interesting opportunity to write, direct, record and enact in a short scene through his guidance. The workshop also highlighted how inclusivity in cinema not only benefits visually impaired audiences but enriches the art of storytelling and its experience for all. Shawn Kharpuli, a student from the audience, shares,“Sir Binoy Karamen’s workshop highlights the importance of audio in film, how it helps us to subconsciously feel things through sound. His experimental film ‘Blindfold’ is an example of it where it takes a huge leap in cinema’s history”, who also aspires to be a filmmaker. Mr. Karamen’s ideas reflect on his work in the industry as well.
In 2020, he introduced a novel initiative, BROKN, which goes beyond traditional media by addressing the beauty and meaning often lost in the broken or overlooked elements of life. BROKN aims to transform these elements into something valuable and economically viable, offering unique employment opportunities for individuals facing life’s challenges. His latest work, Blindfold, is an audio-only film that immerses viewers in a cinematic experience without visuals, utilizing Dolby Atmos technology. This film provides a sensory experience from a first-person perspective, redefining how audiences can connect with cinema. He emphasized that Blindfold isn’t just for the visually impaired but for all of us to experience cinema through first-person perspective.
The two day workshop was attended by the first year PG students of Mass Communication and Electronic Media who expressed immense enthusiasm for the same. Speaking about the same, Shifa, a first year MA Mass Communication student said, “Binoy Sir’s workshop gave us a firsthand experience in filmmaking, covering everything that goes into pre-production and post-production. He also made us realize the importance of sound design and the difference it makes for cinema.”. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. M. Shuaib Mohamed Haneef, Professor at the Department of Electronic Media and Mass Communication with the intention of making cinema inclusive for all.
–Written by Lipsa Akkala
–Edited by Rupam Shukla
