Friday, July 25, 2008

Jul 25-30: Blindsight at VanCity

Graham Peat at Videomatica is involved with bringing this one to Vancouver. Reading the write-ups, I'm eager to see it.

BLINDSIGHT
July 25-30
Fri 25 @ 8:45
Sat 26 @ 7:00
Sun 27 @ 8:45
Mon 28 @ 7:00
Tue 29 @ 8:45
Wed 30 @ 7:00

UK 2007 // Director: Lucy Walker // 104 min // 35mm // BUY TICKETS

VANCOUVER PREMIERE // VANCITY THEATRE EXCLUSIVE

Winner of audience awards in Berlin, Palm Springs and Los Angeles, Blindsight captured the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers who set out to climb the 23,000 foot Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, a dangerous journey soon becomes a seemingly impossible challenge—made all the more remarkable by the fact that the teenagers are blind. Believed by many Tibetans to be possessed by demons, the children are shunned by their parents and rejected by society. Rescued by Sabriye Tenberken—a blind educator/ adventurer who established Lhasa's first school for the blind—the students invite mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer to visit their school after learning about his conquest of Everest. Erik inspires Sabriye and her students to let him lead them higher than they have ever been before, and the resulting three-week journey is beyond anything any of them could have predicted.

The idea for the film came from Erik Weihenmayer (a blind mountaineer). Erik was put in contact with movie producer Steven Haft who thought this story would likely resonate with film producer Sybil Robson-Orr because of her interest in Tibet and mountain climbing. (She met her husband Matthew climbing Kilimanjaro, the same mountain on which Erik got married.) It only took one meeting with Erik before she decided to make the film.

"Erik told me climbing mountains gave him confidence as a blind teenager and he wanted to share that experience with these blind Tibetan kids. He asked me if I thought taking 6 blind Tibetan teenagers up a 23,000 foot mountain in the Himalayas sounded like a movie. I told him it did and decided to make it," says producer Robson-Orr. Sybil and Steven Haft had liked Lucy Walker's Devil's Playground, the critically acclaimed documentary feature about Amish teenagers, and asked her if she'd be interested in directing this project. Lucy connected with the material personally, and thus the filmmaking unit was complete.

"Brilliant...ravishingly photographed"— Time Out London.

"ASTONISHING... THE POWER TO MAKE YOU RE-EXAMINE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE"— New York Times

Official Sit
View Trailer

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