Hot Docs 2008

On his 18th birthday, Ryan Knighton was told he would slowly go blind. Now, 15 years later, as he loses his last sliver of sight, he wants to travel to an ancient church in Germany to hear the note change in the 639-year-long organ performance of the John Cage composition "As Slow as Possible." He compares the note to the North Star, "something to navigate by" as he prepares to be a non-sighted person. Director Scott Smith accompanies him on his journey as he, like Cage, embraces chance encounters: he meets a man in a bear suit who has seen miracles in India, young tourists who think he's a rock star. When he gets lost on the way to the church, a young boy miraculously appears to guide him the final steps. As we hear the note change, we realize that the journey and the film are not so much about loss as about the inevitability of transformation.
-Lynne Fernie