‘Blindsight’ captures struggles of life in darkness

By Kathryn Reed

So much of life is about the journey, not the destination.

This was pointed out in the movie “Blindsight” that tells the story of six blind Tibetan teenagers attempting to climb Lhakpa Ri. This 23,000-foot mountain is to the north of Mount Everest.

These youngsters live in a part of the world where blindness is akin to leprosy. Families disown them, villages spurn them – many end up on the street.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg are changing how Tibetans define blindness. They created the first school for the blind in Tibet as well as the organization Braille Without Borders.

This film could easily fit many genres – documentary, history, adventure. Like most films shot in the Himalayas, the scenery is stunning. But it’s the stories of these children and their blind hiking guides that is inspirational.

Erik Weihenmayer leads the expedition. In 2001, he became the first blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He knows what these youngsters are facing as they ascend the ice fields and cross crevasses that could swallow them alive.

The film delves into the lives of the teens, the adults and struggles they each have and what they have overcome.

It’s a movie about testing oneself and defining accomplishments by the journey involved.

The movie came out in 2006, is 1 hour 44 minutes and available on Netflix.