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People think I’m crazy when I tell them what I’m doing, says Raina Haig |
More than a shot in the dark
Despite suffering from degenerative blindness, Raina Haig is about to direct a feature film
WOODY Allen once made a comedy about a blind film director, and to most people it probably sounds like a joke – but it’s no laughing matter to Raina Haig, who is about to shoot her first feature film.
“People think I’m crazy when I tell them what I’m doing. They think it’s some kind of stunt or a big wind-up and they don’t want to know. They ask how can you possibly direct a film if you are blind?”
Aged 49, she first realised she was going blind at the age of 15, when her Shakespeare text started to disappear in front of her eyes during an English lesson. She was subsequently diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a type of macular degeneration, which has left her unable to read or see anything without a magnifying glass.
Raina, who lives on her own in Swiss Cottage, has never let her disability stand in her way. She has eked out a career spanning more than 20 years in an industry which she regards as one of the most prejudiced around.
“Some people can’t get past the fact that I’m blind and I have encountered an enormous amount of prejudice and ignorance. People think disabled people should only do disabled TV or theatre which should exist in some kind of bubble, separate from the rest of the arts.
“The worst thing that happens is that people listen to your ideas and then steal them before bumping you off a project. That happens a lot and has just fuelled my anger and will to succeed.”
Her condition means she can see no detail. She can only make out shapes and rough contours among a background of flashing lights.
Despite the ever-present doubts and more knock backs than she cares to count, Raina managed to persuade the BBC to take her on and has since produced and directed an array of news programmes, documentaries and theatrical productions, mainly focused at disabled audiences.
But Perfec’ Bride is Raina’s first feature film, which is aimed at a mainstream audience, and she has had to go it alone to make it happen.
“I’ve managed to get about half the funding from various sponsors including the British Film Council, but because the film industry is much more of a money making operation than other projects I’ve been involved in, it’s been very hard work convincing people to part with any money.
“I’ve become very thick skinned and have had to become something of an entrepreneur to try and make this happen. Changing people’s perceptions of blindness has been one of the most rewarding things but it’s been hard.”
So how does a blind person do a job which seems, on the surface at least, dependent on vision? “Basically what I do is break down film making into all its constituent parts. Technology helps a lot and I have very vivid and colourful imagination. I am able to translate these mental maps into pictures with the help of my assistants and a lot of technological aids.”
Ironically Raina wasn’t particularly interested in film before going blind.
She said: “I wouldn’t have become a film-maker if it wasn’t for going blind. Being blind made me confront technology and learn different ways to communicate. I was actually at the cutting edge of technology with all the voice synthesiser equipment I had to use. It made me approach films, and communication more generally, from a different perspective which has worked to my advantage. I was always interested in story telling and this just forced me to use one of my passions.”
It hasn’t been easy. Raina has spent long periods out of work and often thought of throwing it all in.
“Sometimes it can be very hard, I’ve been on and off benefits for a long time but when I’m out of work, it just makes me want to prove myself even more,” she said.
Film or no film, Raina has certainly done that. As well as a prolific line of TV and theatre credits, she also received a degree in Sanskrit from Oxford and in between canvassing for funds she is studying for a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Raina has some way to go before the film, which is a musical romantic comedy, will be shown in the cinema, but she is confident that she will get there. “It’s a challenge but I will do it. The devil in me will make sure of that. It’s the first time I’ve ever really been in control of a project and I am committed to making it work, more than anything to prove to myself that it can be done.” |
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