Skiing blind is a challenge – but it helps to have a loved one to guide you

Equipped with skis, bluetooth headsets and helmets, Krzysztof and Wiola climb a mountain on a chairlift bound for the top of slopes, as the landscape below them grows ever more icy white. The activity became a team sport for the ageing couple when Krzysztof started to lose his sight. Now he relies on his experience and the careful instructions of his wife to safely make his way down the mountain. The Polish director Aleksandra Maciejczyk’s short documentary Connected follows the pair through two runs, showing how, in a process that’s potentially perilous for both, they’ve adapted to continue their hobby. In her intimate portrait of the couple, Maciejczyk captures the combination of bickering, tenderness and collaboration that holds them together. Through this framing, their mountain journey forms something like a metaphor for growing old as a couple – a process that’s often full of evolving challenges and can require the assistance and understanding of a partner, but still has its joys.