Donnie Eichar interviewed former U.S. senator Paul Simon last December to mark the opening of the Jeanne and Paul Simon Braille Book Collection at the Skokie Public Library. It was Sen. Simon’s last interview before his death Dec. 9, said Eichar, director of the feature documentary, “Victory Over Darkness.”
Simon was a longtime advocate for Braille in the libraries, working closely with activist Erica Musser. Musser’s daughter Heidi, the world’s first blind woman triathlete, is one of three visually impaired athletes Eichar is documenting as they train for the Ironman World Championships to be held in Kona, Hawaii this October.
Eichar is in town following Heidi Musser through April. “I’m getting a lot of day to day stuff so people can see the progression in Heidi’s life,” Eichar said. “She’s really opened up in the last six months, playing concert piano and teaching other blind people to read Braille and play the piano.”
Eichar has been working as a one-man crew on “Victory Over Darkness” since last fall, flying around the country to get footage of the three athletes. He’s looking for an additional camera operator, and plans to ramp up to an eventual crew of 25 to 30 for the Hawaii shoot as Musser and her fellow contestants compete in the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run of the Ironman Championships.
Eichar and producer Matt Miller, who met a few years ago as professional models, are raising the low- to-mid-six-figure budget through the C Different Foundation, under the fiscal sponsorship of the nonprofit Challenged Athletes Foundation.
Miller, who is Musser’s triathlon guide, founded C Different three years ago to provide support for visually impaired people to compete in triathlons and other endurance competitions.
“I live in Los Angeles, where image is everything,” Miller said. “It made me sick to my stomach how much perceptions of outer beauty control the world, and I wanted to find someone who sees inner beauty. So I got involved with Challenged Athletes, and some of the athletes had such incredible stories that they wanted to express to the world.”
Eichar’s 33-minute doc “Blind Faith,” which documented a surfing camp for blind people, premiered last year at the Seattle International Film Festival. He also directed the video for “Orange Sky” by folk singer Alexie Murdoch, whose music has been featured on TV shows “The O.C.” and “Dawson’s Creek.”
Eichar will screen a video memorial to Sen. Simon at a fundraiser benefiting “Victory Over Darkness” and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, at 7 p.m. April 8 at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall, 77 E. Randolph. Musser will perform music along with blind and sighted students from the Chicago Latin School.
Reach Eichar at 323/251.8087 or see www.victoryoverdarkness.com.
? by Ed M. Koziarski, edk@homesickblues.com
