Two visually impaired childhood friends, Andrea and Salsabila, who are now teenage girls, living with their blindness in two different places—USA and Indonesia. They share the same idea for the future: to gain independence so they can prepare for a better life!
Andrea (Dea) and Salsabila (Salsa) are childhood friends from Indonesia. They met in the same kindergarten for the visually impaired. Both of them have been blind since birth. At five years of age, Andrea’s family moved with her from Jakarta to Virginia, in the United States, to pursue a better future for the family and better educational opportunities for their blind daughter. Salsa remained in Jakarta. Despite the distance between them, the friendship continues.
In this coming of age story, we follow them both as they prepare for adulthood in two very different worlds. In Virginia, Andrea goes to a school that includes visually impaired and disabled students. Aware of being the central attention from the supportive family help her to get all access, on the other side Dea sees the dark side of it. She then challenges herself to be independent! During her summer break, she attends a creative residency program that encourages visually impaired youth to develop the skills necessary for living independently.
Back in Jakarta, Salsa, who is seventeen, lives in a dormitory far away from her parents so that she can attend one of the very few “inclusive schools” that accepts visually impaired students to study alongside non-disable students. Salsa’s dream is to become a math teacher for the blind, but she must navigate a home life and an education system with limited support for her needs. With adulthood around the corner, the two girls seek strength in their childhood friendship as they prepare for adult life in Indonesia and the USA.
Impact Distribution
The Impact Campaign Film How Far I’ll Go was held to raise sensitivity and concern for disability and inclusiveness issues and encourage the public to support the growth of an inclusive environment.
How Far I’ll Go is the first inclusive Indonesian film that offers complete accessibility. Many parties, who were completely unfamiliar with disabilities, began to understand and become more sympathetic and moved to care about disabilities after the movie screening. These screenings also brought film activists closer to the person with disabilities, attracted many film and arts communities to register as screening partners, and inspired the Gerakan Ibu Inklusif (Inclusive Mother Movement).
