Plot

In a world filled with Noise, there is another Sound worth Hearing, and her name is Rachel Flowers. "Hearing is Believing" introduces the world to the life and music of the multi-talented 23-year old musician and composer, Rachel Flowers.

"Hearing Is Believing", the new feature documentary from award-winning producer/director Lorenzo DeStefano ("Talmage Farlow", "Los Zafiros-Music From The Edge Of Time"), introduces the world to the astonishing young musician and composer, Rachel Flowers. Born 15 weeks premature, at a body weight of one pound five ounces, Rachel lost her eyesight due to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). At two she began picking up melodies from her musician parents and was soon playing every song she heard by ear, including Bach fugues. The child had perfect pitch. Starting her formal musical education at the age of 4, Rachel spent the next 10 years studying at the Southern California Conservatory of Music, while completing her mainstream education through elementary, middle, and high school. She was featured in two episodes of 60 Minutes in 2005 & 2008, when she was 12 and 15 years old. DeStefano and his team have created a dynamic and engaging portrait of a year and a half in the life of a tight knit American family, a single mom and her two kids, living paycheck to paycheck in working class Oxnard, California, with Rachel's stunning music as the soundtrack. Hearing is Believing revels in Rachel's joyous and free-flowing love of song, illuminating the bonds of family and the divine mysteries of creativity. Among the great musicians appearing with Rachel in the film are Grammy winners Stevie Wonder, Dweezil Zappa, Arturo Sandoval, two-time Grammy nominated jazz pianist, Taylor Eigsti, the late Progressive Rock icon Keith Emerson, and 50 members of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony performing Rachel's original composition, "At The End Of The Day". Rachel Flowers is a true survivor, a hyperabled individual whose inspiring story has the potential to be a beacon of hope out there.—Hearing is Believing Productions, Inc.

Making a film about someones life, even a short period of that life, is not something to enter into lightly. It is a bond that must hold for a very long time before fruition. When award-winning filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano (Talmage Farlow, Los Zafiros-Music from the Edge of Time) first met the multi-talented instrumentalist and composer Rachel Flowers, he had to adjust his working plans to include the story of this remarkable young woman.

Rachel was born 15 weeks premature on December 21, 1993. She weighed one pound five ounces and soon lost her sight due to ROP - Retinopathy of Prematurity. At two she began playing every song she heard by ear. The child had perfect pitch. At the age of four she became a student at the Southern California Conservatory of Music. Over the next ten years she studied piano and music fundamentals and learned Braille Music Code and adaptive computer music applications.

In 2005 and 2008 Rachel was featured in two segments of 60 Minutes, about the Music Academy for the Blind in Los Angeles.

Rachel lives with her 14 year-old brother Vaughan and her mother Jeanie, a singer, lyricist, and musician, in Oxnard, California. Rachel also has a close relationship with her father, Dan Flowers, a musician who lives in nearby Ventura, California. Dans own struggle with failing vision, a genetic disorder unrelated to Rachels condition, is one of the more dramatic elements in the film. He is taking classes in mobility training at the Braille Institute in Santa Barbara, where Rachel has been enrolled since she was 10, getting help from a daughter who knows all about overcoming obstacles.

Musical artists featured in the film include Stevie Wonder, Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Dweezil Zappa, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, Patrick Maraz of the Moody Blues, jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti, and members of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony recording Rachels original composition, At The End Of The Day.

The Hearing is Believing team have accomplished a great deal since starting production in March, 2014. With 42 days filmed-to-date, we are creating an engaging portrait of a year and a half in the life of a tight-knit American family, a single mom and her two kids, living paycheck to paycheck. Through bright and through tough times, the Flowers family moves forward with their lives, with Rachels music providing the brilliant soundtrack. We are looking to find in Rachels story the great that already exists in the small, reveling in her joyous and free-flowing love of song.

We believe that despite the uncertainty out there for every independent film, Hearing is Believing will find its audience. Why? Because Rachel Flowers, at 21, is a true survivor, a hyper-abled individual and inspirational presence whose deeply human story and immense musical gifts have the potential to provide a beacon of hope out there, illuminating in the process the bonds of family and the mysteries of musical creativity.