Trailer for Shoulder the Lion which will be screening at the Hot Docs Film Festival.
What if the senses you relied on to create your art were taken from you? Painter-sculptor Katie Dallam—the inspiration behind Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby—suffered severe brain damage after 140 blows to the head in her first professional boxing match. After decades of diminishing vision, photographer-sculptor Alice Wingwall completely lost her sight to genetic retinal degeneration. And just when musician Graham Sharpe’s career hit an upswing, the overwhelming pain of tinnitus forced him to stop playing. Yet none of them gave up, choosing to recalibrate instead. Sidestepping a simple show-and-tell of their old and new work, filmmakers Erinnisse and Patryk Rebisz tap directly into the pain of their creative transformations, crafting original, dynamic imagery that confronts both their subjects’ physical losses and their determination to redefine themselves. This bold visual essay foregrounds the sheer mettle art demands alongside deeply affecting stories of personal struggle. Fresh and utterly unique, Shoulder the Lion is a wholly original testament to artistic life.