About this Short Film
Specially For Me (Michael Jones, Australia, 2021) is a short film that examines themes of adult life, depression and sensory disability. It offers a quiet, intimate look at individual experience and the ways tunnel vision can shape perception and daily life. The work is pared back and thoughtful, inviting viewers to sit with difficult emotions without easy answers. Shown as part of the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival, it complements a programme dedicated to films that highlight what people with disability can do and how they live. Expect a reflective piece that respects its subject and asks you to pay close attention.
Film Details
Film Transcript
When I'm walking down the street I have to concentrate quite a lot. I just can't let go and just pretend everything's normal.
Using the cane all the time to get around here, I've become an expert on footpaths. I know really well which areas are easier to negotiate and which areas are more difficult. I get to know the curbs, cracks, tree roots poking up in the footpath and where the roads go up and down—it's a whole world of its own.
It's called retinitis pigmentosa, but in colloquial terms it's tunnel vision. At first I was horrified. Other people I know who got low vision also told me they were horrified—people looking at you and stuff—and I realised that somehow my identity's changed a little bit.
[Music]
I find one of the things about living alone that's important is routines. One that's really important to me involves exercise, so I do about 40 minutes of exercise and at the same time I'll listen to the radio or listen to a podcast. At the moment I'm kind of dealing with the issue of putting things down and not being able to find them after I put them down—just driving me crazy, especially my phone. I'm trying to train myself to put the phone on the table after I finish using it, not on the couch or behind the TV, but on the table so I can find it each time.
When I'm going on the steps in my flat I can't see; I have to look straight ahead. I can't see anything below me, so I've got to use my heels to rub on the step so I can get my bearings as I go on each step.
Other people have got no idea that I'm involved in these processes of learning all this stuff. These habits seem trivial and not very important, but actually we've all got things like this in our lives. They're quite special and unique and they contribute to helping us feel more secure. The certainty of routine helps us get through life.
Sometimes it does get a bit depressing. The trick is really to not focus on that, just to focus on what you derive pleasure and meaning from.
[Music]
Filmmaker
Michael Jones is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Michael Jones.
