BLINDSIGHT
BLINDSIGHT |
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Sabriye Tenberken runs a refuge for blind children in Tibet. She and n Erik Weihenmayer, a famed, blind mountaineer, form a plan to climb Mount Everest. | score 3+ |
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| Cast Sabriye Tenberken, Erik Weihenmayer, six Tibetan teenagers Director Lucy Walker Screenwriter Documentary Country UK (subtitles) Rating / Running Time G / 104 minutes Australian Release January 2008 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
Director
Lucy Walker poses a demanding thought: what if suddenly everyone you
knew was a stranger? It’s not an existentialist leap, but a
simple, physical one: the life-changing prospect of post-birth
blindness. For children in Tibet, karma sits behind the tragedy of
loosing ones sight. Many believe the blind are possessed by demons and
are paying the price for bad choices in a former life. They bring shame
on their family, are despised socially and generally cast out to fend
for themselves. Enter Sabriye Tenberken, a blind German woman who established a refuge and Tibet’s only school for blind children. Her work caught the attention of Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind mountaineer to scale Mount Everest unaided. A plan was hatched to take Tenberken and six of her wards up the north face of Everest. Walker documented the gruelling, three-week journey. The searing beauty of they Himalayas is the first of many ironies that Blindsight throws up. Those featured can’t see mountains nor the view from the peak they intend to conquer. Why they choose to climb opens up one of many opposing exchanges that populate the documentary - blind vs sighted, east vs west , spiritual vs secular – turning it from an account of mountain climbing into a fascinating exploration of human dynamics. Walker captures it all; the drive, the concern, the arguments, the laughter, the terrifying hard work, the payoff. It is inspiring stuff that throws petty concerns into sharp relief and demands a new way of looking at the world. All this from blind, inexperienced, ostracised teenagers with the courage to climb Mt Everest. // COLIN FRASER |