Last Seen: David's and Santi's stories - documentary films
The short documentaries LAST SEEN: Santi's Story and LAST SEEN: David's Story are part of the Last Seen initiative that creatively explore the world of ten vision impaired Australians. In an inspiring creative showcase, The Last Seen showcase paired vision-impaired Australians with renowned artists and composers as well as filmmakers to depict their last, or most cherished, visual memory.
Santi's Story and David's Story were produced, filmed and directed by Peter Hegedus who employed his documentary filmmaking skills as a 'one person band' to tell the stories of Santiago Velasquez and David Truong. Peter's unique and intimate approach to capturing stories through his interviewing techniques with his characters as well as his camera work being up close and personal is what defines his filmmaking style and gives the films their distinct look.
Funding
self funded
History
ERA Category
- Recorded/Rendered Creative Work - Film/Video
Funding type
- Self funded
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
If not major research
- Major Research
Research Statement
David’s Story and Santi’s Story are two creative documentaries exploring the unique experiences of losing one's vision and the memories associated with the experience. Produced in the tradition of acclaimed documentaries about people with vision impairment such as Vision Portraits (2023) and Blind Leading the Blind (2019), these two documentaries interrogate the questions around the notions of memory, a sense of loss and acceptance in one’s life journey when living with blindness. The documentaries combine conventional techniques with experiential creative methods to draw out the unique perspective of the participants resulting in a strong sense of being there with the participants characterized by close ups and shallow depth of field. In a unique juxtaposition, the filmmaker also shifts perspectives by showing the participants pov in an effort to build connection. The CEO of the Queensland Eye Institute, Mark Radford, asserted that “The films original in style and in approach, conveyed more than just images”. The documentaries were launched by the Queensland Eye Institute, as part of the Last Seen project initiative screening consecutively over 10 days in a public exhibition space. Since April 2023, the films have been embedded in the Last Seen website with 1000s of visitors recorded. The documentaries screened on the Industry Day of the Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF). Both films contributed to the Queensland Eye Institute Foundation raising over AUD100,000 for research on eye-related health. The films received critical attention via a testimonial from the CEO of Bus Stop Films Tracey Corbin-Matchett.Publisher
Queensland Eye Institute Brisbane International Film FestivalPlace of publication
BrisbanePublisher URL
Confidential / Culturally sensitive
- No
Copyright notes
© 2023 Peter Hegedus. The re-use is limited to personal use and permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses.Size of work
Santi's Story - 3 min 48 seconds David's Story - 3 min 35 secondsNumber of discrete components
2 stand alone documentariesDate of recording
January 2023Estimated size of audience
5000Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Webstreaming
Scope of dissemination
- International
Did the work go on tour?
- No