Director’s Statement – Lorenzo DeStefano

www.hearingisbelievingfilm.com

Making a film about someone’s life, even a short period of that life, is not something to enter into lightly, for filmmaker or subject. It is a bond that has to hold for a very long time before fruition, and a lifetime afterwards. While I’ve thought of doing another music documentary, having already produced & directed “Talmage Farlow” and “Los Zafiros-Music From The Edge Of Time”, I’ve been focusing more on my work as a writer and director for theater and for narrative film. When I first heard Rachel perform in Ventura on January 18th, 2014 I had to adjust my plans to include the story of this remarkable young woman. Rachel’s given abilities and the music that is her inspiration make her a talent that cannot be ignored. Everyone on our team believes that she is fully deserving of the imaginative and insightful film we plan to make about her. Rachel is a survivor who is fast maturing into a consummate musical artist. It has been critical to deal with Rachel’s blindness in a fresh and un-clichéd way, connecting the audience to the visual & tonal dreamscapes that inspire Rachel’s compositions. “Hearing is Believing” captures Rachel’s joyous and free-flowing love of song, illuminating in the process the bonds of family and the mysteries of musical creativity. Astonishing as her playing and composing abilities already are, Rachel Flowers is not some curiosity. My goal has been to create a dynamic, engaging portrait of where she is right now and the amazing future that stretches before her.

Lorenzo DeStefano