Sometimes, it’s not necessarily how one stages their work to create a mesmerizing, daring piece for audiences to become empathetic towards. A great craft of one’s beauty comes from the willingness to experiment beyond the means of a typical camera. In cinema, analysts (and cinephiles) become acclimated to studying filmmakers’ mise-en-scene, aka stage design or production values that showcase visual themes and exploration.

I Didn’t See You There is an anomaly in the field of documentaries, as it breaks the tradition of expert talking heads overpowering the footage or a narrative arc as to where it’ll delve. The lateral tracking, first-person shots embody an individual shaken in balance and life due to an unfortunate disability (cerebral palsy). Yet, a glamorous bit of perspective stays imbued throughout its duration. Usually, it’s a commonality for us to step aside or avoid the disabled individual because we recognize their limitations and don’t know entirely how to correspond. Here, director/actor Reid Davenport carries that weight over as we witness his struggles, from exiting a commercial jetliner to crossing streets where drivers ignore crosswalk lanes.

At its core, this work passionately stakes out a new vantage point of our world from a gentleman in a wheelchair and subtly explains the daily hardships these folk deal with. Even for a feature clocked in at 76 minutes, it pulls us into the perspective of Davenport’s situation, a statement on the perils and aggravations and grace of life. No voyeuristically gawking here; this is a pure statement of living from those handling mobility restrictions who sadly cannot jog off into the streets or completely express themselves in the ever-evolving expansion of society.

The first-person poetry and multilayered work spread for itself; I Didn’t See You There is a kinetic work of simple elegance.

For more information, check out the trailer below: