Dami Im Pens Theme for Australian Movie ‘My Eyes’

Producer, actor – and optometrist – Tsu Shan Chambers was a volunteer at the Sydney Paralympic Games when she fell in love with a judo player.

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Her new movie, My Eyes, draws on their romance to celebrate disability in sport and raise awareness of preventive eye care.

In My Eyes, Tsu Shan plays Alana, an optometrist and mother who discovers a genetic flaw in her daughter’s eyesight.

The diagnosis leads to other revelations about her family, and husband Sam (Adam Garcia) embarks with Alana on a journey to Mexico fight for their daughter’s health.

It’s a unique selling point that saw My Eyes picked to represent Australia at the 69th Asia Pacific Festival in Macau and qualify for this month’s Gold Coast Film Festival.

Key to making the film was Tsu Shan’s passion to show the resilience and ability of the athletes she met at the Paralympics.

In My Eyes, Tsu Shan plays Alana, an optometrist and mother who discovers a genetic flaw in her daughter’s eyesight.

“We wanted to show that people with a disability are like everyone else,” Tsu Shan said.

“They love, they go through drama in their lives.

“I really wanted to flip the stereotype so that they weren’t considered ‘less than’, or a victim story.”

Tsu Shan made the decision to only cast people with abilities that matched their characters in the film, including vision-impaired Judo champion Eduardo Avila Sanchez.

“[Eduardo]’s won gold twice at the paralympic games,” Tsu Shan said.

“We wanted to show that people with a disability are like everyone else,” Tsu Shan said.

“And he can do everything [able-bodied] people can do.”

In scenes where judo training was taking place it’s all real judo players on screen, adding to the authenticity of the story and the message Tsu Shan wanted to portray.

“It was really important for us to show the truth behind it,” Tsu Shan said.

The focus on raising awareness about eye health comes from Tsu Shan’s own experience in optometry, and knowing Eduardo’s story.

“There’s a lot of things you can do by just getting your eyes tested,” Tsu Shan told Fan Force.

“[Eduardo] was undiagnosed for years.

“He was bullied as a child, was always clumsy, and they didn’t know what was going on until a teacher suggested to his mum to get his eyes tested and they diagnosed his tunnel vision.

“It changed his life.”

Tsu Shan made the decision to only cast people with abilities that matched their characters in the film.

Dami Im’s single My Favourite Scar is the theme song for My Eyes, which she wrote after being inspired by how unique the script was.

“It was a big challenge for me to see if I could write something that would really capture the essence of this film,” Dami said.

“[My Eyes] is about relationships, and even the best relationships cause you pain and leave you with scars, [but] they become scars that you cherish.

“[The song] is about love that might give you pain, but you still fight through it.”

My Eyes begins its premiere season on May 26.

Tickets purchased through Fan Force ensure screenings can go ahead – so book early – and a percentage of the ticket price will be donated to not-for-profit’s dedicated to eye health and blind sports.

To host a screening visit Fan Force.