‘Blink’ Documentary Screening
Falmouth Public Library will be screening the 2024 National Geographic | Documentary Films documentary Blink on Friday, June 6th at 3:00pm in the library’s Hermann Room. This documentary screening is free to the public and is courtesy of National Geographic | Documentary Films. All are welcome to attend!
Blink, directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher, is a powerful documentary about a family that embarks on an epic journey to show their children the beauty of the world before it vanishes for good after three of their children are diagnosed with an incurable eye condition.
“ “Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier first noticed their daughter, Mia, was having vision problems when she was 3 years old. The diagnosis took years to pinpoint but, by the time Mia was 7, they had identified it as retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that causes a loss or decline in vision over time. It skipped their second child, Léo, but both their younger sons, Colin and Laurent, received the same diagnosis. “We don’t know how fast it’s going to go, but we expect them to be completely blind by mid-life,” said the parents. The school’s vision impairment advisor suggested they fill Mia’s visual memory looking at pictures in 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 explains. “And I’m going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful images I can.”
As the Canadian-based family began making plans to spend a year traveling around the globe, they canvassed the children’s opinions on what they wanted to do. Four-year-old Laurent said he wanted to drink juice on a camel. “We never found out where this crazy idea came from, but it was very dear to him and made us all laugh,” his mother said. Nothing was off limits. That bucket list became their North Star.
From the frozen fields of Nunavik to Egypt’s haunting White Desert and beyond, the film team spent 76 days with the family and created lasting bonds. “It was as if we had known each other for a long time,” said Edith. In addition to these new ties, the Pelletiers took as many pictures as possible to ensure that even when their children have lost most of their sight, they will still have something to look back on. “Maybe they’ll be able to look at the photographs and the pictures and they will bring back those stories, those memories, of the family together.” “
Blink is rated PG and has a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes. English subtitles will be used if available. To register to attend, CLICK HERE or visit/call the library’s adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.