Canadian Paralympic medallist Victoria Nolan’s story to hit the big screen

TORONTO – A new film called Blindly Victorious, inspired by the life of Canadian Paralympic rowing medallist Victoria Nolan, is set to bring her story of vision loss and resilience to audiences across the country.

The project was seeded when director Giacomo Moncada (The Messiah, Death by Dawn), whose son played hockey with Nolan’s child, read her autobiography Beyond Vision: The Story of a Blind Rower (2014) around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and approached her about adapting it for the screen.

‘’We’ve been working on it since then,’’ said Nolan in an interview this week with CPC. ‘’He developed the script and was very clear he wanted me to be happy with how blindness was represented and the final product.’’

The film, now in post-production, focuses on a key period on Nolan’s life rather than a full biography. It begins with her diagnosis of degenerative eye condition at age 18 and follows her journey toward discovering rowing and adapting to life with vision loss.

‘’It’s about dealing with that diagnosis and finding the sport,’’ said Nolan, part of the crew that won’s Canada’s first ever Paralympic Games medal in the sport of Para rowing as they took bronze in the mixed fours. She is also a three-time world championship medallist including gold in 2010.

‘’It doesn’t cover everything, but it shows the start of that journey.’’

Nolan praised the performance of lead actress Watson Rose (The Way Home, Fishbowl), for doing her research and bringing emotional depth to experiences Nolan herself often processed internally.

‘’She read the book, follows me on social media and we bonded right away,’’ Nolan said. ‘’She actually has a background in rowing from university which was incredible. She had a natural understanding of what I was feeling and going through. She didn’t go through blindness or motherhood but she took to it naturally.’’

Nolan said Watson was excited about the project.

‘’One of her goals was to portray someone in a biopic. This film was her first step into that, and she said she was pretty impressed to be portraying me.”

The film also stars Jake Epstein (Degrassi: The Next Generation) who plays the role of Nolan’s husband Eamonn Nolan, and Tony Nappo (Ginny & Georgia) is coach Jim Marino. Victorious was co-written by Moncada and Tony DiPasquale.

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The film is expected to premier later this year, with plans for community screenings across Canada.

While the film captured the demands of high-performance sport, Nolan adds it also highlights personal relationships, including the support of her husband during difficult periods.

‘’It captures more of a love story than my book did and my husband<s support through the rough times,’’ she said. ‘’That really stands out for me.’’

Due to her vision loss, Nolan has experienced the film primarily through audio, listening to rough cuts. She said the production will include audio description and closed captions to ensure accessibility.

Some scenes were difficult to revisit, particularly those depicting her diagnosis and instances of discrimination during her athletic career.

‘’There were definitely moments that were hard to sit through,’’ she admitted.

Nolan adds the film also aims to challenge common misconceptions about people with disabilities including Paralympians.

‘’I’ve experienced a lot of stereotypes,’’ she said. ‘’Even just assumptions about what people with disabilities can or can’t do.’’

Now working with CNIB, Nolan says she hopes the film raises awareness of the blind community, which she described as small and often misunderstood.

‘’If we can represent blind people more in the mainstream media, that helps build understanding,’’ Nolan said.

Beyond awareness, Nolan hopes the film will encourage young people with disabilities to explore sport.

‘’It doesn’t have to be at a high-performance level,’’ she said. ‘’There’s something out there for everyone.

‘’It can be life changing.’’