From award-winning filmmaker Edmond Stenson (Finding Fukue) and Academy Award winning director Daniel Roher (Navalny) comes the emotionally wrenching story of a family facing an existential question / crisis. It comes in the form of a devastating medical condition, three of their four children are diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and incurable disease that leads to severe visual impairment. Knowing that their family’s world is facing something that will change their lives forever, the parents, Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier organize, with their children’s guidance, a journey that will take them around the world to experience all its beauty while they still can. As Mia, Leo, Colin and Laurent fill their memories with breathtaking destinations and once-in-a-lifetime encounters, the family’s love, resilience and unshakeable sense of wonder ensure that their uncertain future does not define their present. Co-directors Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher join us for a conversation on how they learned about the Pelletier family situation, approaching the Pelletier’s with the idea of documenting something so intimate without disrupting the delicate family balance, and how this emotionally charged project has impacted each of them.
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For more go to: nationalgeographic.com/blink
About the filmmaker – Daniel Roher is a filmmaker from Toronto, Canada. His first film, “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band,” was a music documentary executive produced by Martin Scorsese. His follow-up, “Navalny,” won Sundance’s 2022 Festival Favorite Award, the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, as well as the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. His latest project, “BLINK,” will premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and will be released by National Geographic Documentary Films in the late fall. In addition to his work in film, he is an accomplished visual artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries around the world. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, son, and dog, Moose.
About the filmmaker – Edmund Stenson’s work as director, producer and editor spans both documentary and fiction and focuses on social issues, loners and nomads. He recently directed “BLINK,” a National Geographic feature about the Lemay-Pelletier family, who dropped everything and traveled the world after learning three of their four children were losing their vision. Before that, he was an associate editor on BAFTA- and Oscar®-winner “Navalny” (2022), a documentary-thriller about the Russian dissident’s poisoning.In 2018, he directed the award-winning “Finding Fukue,” the viral CBC success that has amassed over 14.5 million views online. He has also cut award-winning documentary features, shorts and television series in English, French and Japanese: most notably, Canadian Screen Award winner “Being Black in Toronto” (2020), “Ciao Plastique” (2020), “Ghosts of Our Forest” (2017), “Ma vie Made in Canada” (2017), “Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal” and “Retour aux sources” aka “The Roots Remain” (2015).Stenson is also somewhat obsessed with the Chilean filmmaker and magician Raúl Ruiz, as well as another kind of magician: Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy. For more go to: edmundstenson.com
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“A poignant and inspiring story told with exemplary restraint and skill…” – Peter Keough, Arts Fuse
“Directors Daniel Roher and Edmund Stinson wisely allow the innate drama of this journey to rise to the surface amid the recognizable rhythms of daily life” – Christy LemireRogerEbert.com
“More than anything, “Blink” succeeds as a film about the lengths that parents will go to give their children every possible ounce of joy in an indifferent world that too often has cruel other plans for them.” – Christian Zilko, indieWire
“Life comes at you fast, after all, and “Blink” reminds us to look at each day as if it might be the last.” – Nicolas Rapold. New York Times