Mit Ästen bis zum Himmel

While the screen remains black for the first two minutes, the clicking of an audible traffic light, signals, voices, footsteps, and a piano can be heard. Apart from a special focus on tones and sounds, tactile sensations and materiality also take center stage in our perception. Children feel the fur of a stuffed bear, autumn leaves and Braille letters. They compare the sound of an ostrich egg to that of a pigeon’s and the echo in the elevator to that of the stairwell. They type on a Braille keyboard and practice using Clicksonar and AI glasses. They sing, swim, play football, chess and the piano, and they compose “elevenie” poems. Completed posthumously, Katharina Copony's documentary MIT ÄSTEN BIS ZUM HIMMEL uses stunningly photographed footage to explore the learning experiences of visually impaired and blind children at the Federal Institute for the Blind in Vienna and the diverse ways the protagonists have of orienting themselves through their senses and engaging with the world. (bik)