National Geographic’s new astonishing documentary Blink follows a family with four children, three of which are doomed to grow blind from a rare hereditary condition.
Parents of 13-year-old Mia and three boys—Léo, 11, Colin, 9, and Laurent, 7—Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier traveled the globe to see all of its beauty while their children still could.
The family traveled the globe to see all its beauty while their three children, who were diagnosed with a rare hereditary condition causing visual loss, still could.
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
The last 6 years were truly devastating for the family from Québec, since their daughter Mia and the two youngest boys were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disease in which the cells of the retina slowly die.
“The hardest part with the diagnosis was inaction. There’s nothing they can do about it. There’s no treatment,” Edith shared.
The parents couldn’t do anything about the progress of the disease, but they realized that at least they could give their kids some unforgettable experiences that would stay in their memories for a lifetime.
“We don’t know how fast it’s going to go, but we expect them to be completely blind by mid-life,” the parents said and added that Mia’s impairment advisor suggested they fill her visual memory with pictures from books.
“I thought, I’m not going to show her an elephant in a book; I’m going to take her to see a real elephant,” Edith said. “And I’m going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful images I can,” she added.
The family’s 3 kids were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and incurable disease that leads to severe visual impairment
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
This knowledge guided the family into an incredible 24-country year-long adventure. Watching a desert sunset, drinking juice while riding a camel, riding horseback in Mongolia, making friends in different countries, sleeping on a train and many more were among the bucket list items the parents encouraged their children to compile.
“We were concentrated on sights,” Sébastien said. “We also paid great attention to flora and fauna. Although elsewhere as well, Africa boasts amazing species. We were thus quite attempting to have them see things they wouldn’t have seen at home and have the most amazing experiences,” he said.
Léo therefore saw elephants on safari, Mia swam with dolphins, Edith rode a hot-air balloon in Cappadocia, Sébastien viewed the ancient sight of Angkor Wat, and Colin realized his goal of sleeping on a moving train. The whole family befriended nearby residents and saw wonderfully gorgeous animals.
Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier decided to use amazing locations and once-in-a-lifetime experiences to help to enrich the memories of their children.
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
Beginning October 4, Walt Disney Studios plans to open Blink in 150 theaters in the United States and Canada.
“It’s a monument to familial strength and resilience in the face of adversity,” said film director Edmund Stenson. “Yes, the diagnosis is vision impaired-specific, but it’s really a more general narrative about what do you do when the world throws you something? How would you reply? What is your response?
Following the family for 76 days as they travelled Namibia, Mongolia, Egypt, Laos, Nepal and Turkey, National Geographic’s cameras managed to capture this in the most personal manner.
“We sought to envelop the audience in the observational reality of their daily lives as well as the nuanced relationships among each of them by keeping our camera at kid-height and closely near to the family. The directors Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher clarified: “This is a film built on looks, gestures and small details – the very fabric of our interactions with one another.”
“We felt we could go beyond a simple catalog of sites and capture something universal by balancing (the parents’ grief) with a more innocent and joyful tale of childless wonder and discovery,” they said.
The way the family faced this life-altering news showed that the uncertain future does not define the present
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
Image credits: National Geographic
The key lesson of Blink is “don’t lose sight of what matters,” and I instantly recall one of my favorite phrases from Roald Dahl, which aptly captures the mentality of this amazing family: “And above all, see with dazzling eyes the entire world around you since the most unusual places often conceal the most important secrets. Those who reject magic will never come upon it.
Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier demonstrate the entire planet that even in such circumstances in which we cannot control anything, there is still a way to see the light, to enjoy life and embrace every single moment as if it were the most beautiful and magnificent one.
People all over the internet sent supportive and heartfelt messages to the entire family
