“I Close My Eyes To See” by Roxie Oliveira

Roxie Oliveira’s remarkable cinematographic work is the sincere and painful portrait of a human being. “I Close My Eyes To See” already contains in the title the deep and complex analysis of intimacy, which Oliveira explores first in herself and then in the protagonist of the film, who acts as a reflection. It is perhaps this close connection between personal experience and cinematic story that gives the film a sense of familiarity and delicacy, which pervades us from the very first minutes. In fact, the director, looking inside herself in search of her own lights and shadows, manages to open the cinema to a universal perspective, in which every spectator finds himself. Of course, the story of this promising artist held back by the fear and inexorability of the disease is a peculiar story, which captures and involves us until the end. Yet, digging deeper, what emerges is a strong, painful and courageous call to the human spirit, to that fire that every morning requires us to get up and fight one day more, to get closer to ourselves. The same visual form of “I Close My Eyes To See” is calm, discreet, almost pale and never overrides the expressive importance of the text and interpretations. In this search for personal truth, Oliveira’s cinema is a tough, courageous cinema, which does not allow formal virtuosity to eclipse the purity of reality. The hard, personal elaboration of feelings behind this movie it’s evident. By closing our eyes and looking within us, everything actually emerges clear and crystalline and this film is proof of that.