Black Sun

Black Sun is a highly innovative documentary made by filmmaker Gary Tarn, telling the remarkable story of French artist Hugues de Montalembert, who was blinded during a violent assault in New York in 1978. De Montalembert narrates, explaining the ways he found to cope with a life-changing trauma, working this experience into his artistic practice and developing a unique philosophy on life. Tarn uses extraordinary, expressionistic means to visualise the world from the blind artist’s perspective. The result is a life affirming testimony and a fascinating meditation on the nature of perception.

I had played [Hugues de Montalembert] some music incorporating speech that I had put together, and he liked that; I think that gave him sufficient faith that I had at least some musical ability. […] I think his attitude was that the book was his work, and the film was mine, and so it was up to me, in a sense, to make it work. After we had recorded the interviews, however, I did feel quite a weight of responsibility to make something of value - I knew he had given me something very special in them, and I wanted to rise to the challenge.

Director Gary Tarn