Perhaps can try with USIS. Subramani
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Divyanshu Ganatra Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 11:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AI] Film documents blind teens climbing Himalayan peak does anyone know how to get this documentary? divyanshu On 4/4/08, pamnani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > CNN > Subject: Film documents blind teens climbing Himalayan peak > > > Film documents blind teens climbing Himalayan peak > > NEW YORK (AP) -- Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to reach the > 29,035-foot summit of Mount Everest and climb the seven summits of the > world, took on > a different challenge in 2004: He guided six blind Tibetan teenagers toward > the 23,000-foot summit of Lhakpa Ri, the peak next to Everest. > > Weihenmayer had received an e-mail from Sabriye Tenberken, a 2005 Nobel > Peace Prize nominee and co-founder of Braille Without Borders, a school for > the > blind in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The students at her school had been > inspired by Weihenmayer and wanted to meet him. > > He had a different idea. > > "If these kids can climb their own Everest, what a statement that would make > in the world," Weihenmayer said. > > The resulting three-week journey, its hazards, successes and failures > unravel in "Blindsight," a documentary by Lucy Walker playing in limited > release around > the nation. With the magnificent Himalayas as a backdrop, the film touches > on the challenges faced by six blind teens in their daily lives and on this > journey. It casts a lens on Tibet, a region now mired in chaos, and invites > audiences to see the climbing region now closed to the world as the Beijing > Olympics approach. > > "We are blind, but our heart is not blind. Normal people's hearts are > blind," Tenzin, one of the Tibetan teens, said. > > Tenzin, who's 17 years old in the film and whose name means "keeper of > Buddha's teachings," made the climb with five other Tibetans from his > school: Dachung, > Kyila, Sonam Bhumtso, Gyenshen and Tashi. > > Sonam Bhumtso, called the climb a "golden chance." She, like Kyila, comes > from a loving home, but said she worried her family wouldn't take care of > her > for much longer. > > Kyila, on the other hand, had to help take care of her two blind brothers > and her blind father after her mother died. Dachung lived only with his > father, > who has since died. > > The 19-year-old Tashi, whose name means "lucky," becomes the unofficial star > who faces the most physical and mental adversity on the climb. Born in > China, > he said his parents sold him to a couple who brought him to Lhasa to beg. > When he couldn't collect enough money, he said they beat him, so he ran > away. > He lived on the streets for years before a Tibetan woman took him to Braille > Without Borders. > > Tashi is reunited with his father and mother during the film in a wrenching > scene. Despite his hardships, Tashi told director Walker: "The best thing > about > being blind is that I'm forced to look on the brighter side of things." > > Gyenshen, 17 years old in the film, became blind at 9 and spent four years > locked in his house, since his parents were ashamed of his condition. > > "He was the smartest boy around, now he's turned into this," Gyenshen's > mother says in the film. "The cleverest child has gone to waste. Without > eyes a > man in not complete." > > Such beliefs are common among Tibetans. > > "It's because of bad deeds in my past life that I am blind in this one," > Tenzin said. > > Because of high altitude and exposure to ultraviolet rays, Tibet has high > rates of blindness and eye disease. The incidence of cataract blindness in > Tibet > is about six times that found elsewhere in China, according to UNESCO. > Despite this, Buddhist pilgrims and nomads in Tibet believe that blind > people are > possessed by demons or that they have done something wrong in a past life. > > In the film, two blind teens walk through town and someone calls to them, > "You deserve to eat your father's corpse." > > "These superstitions can be overcome," Tenberken told the Associated Press. > > She is living proof, and is slowly changing the face of blindness in Tibet > and around the world. > > Born in Germany, Tenberken became blind by 13. When she later traveled to > Tibet, she was startled by the Tibetans' treatment of their blind. She also > found > that they had no Braille system, so she created one. She met her partner, > Paul Kronenberg, while in Tibet and they opened the school to pass on the > techniques > she had learned to live successfully as a blind person. > > Open for 10 years now, the preparatory school hosts 30 to 35 students who > stay for two to three years, Tenberken said. After learning techniques and > studying > English, Chinese and Tibetan among other subjects, the students integrate > themselves into regular schools and return home, often to work and thrive. > > "I think the climb was one in many accomplishments for the students," > Tenberken said. "It's good to find your own borders and figure out methods > to get > around them." > > During the expedition, the top became an impossibility for at least three of > the climbers, who were sent back after suffering headaches and altitude > sickness. > > "Part of me felt like a failure," Weihenmayer said. "In some ways, having to > send those kids down, I wanted to make them feel special and I thought maybe > they felt the opposite." > > The remaining group stayed below the summit of Lhakpa Ri for five more days, > and though they never made it to the top they found a summit of their own. > > "Everyone created their own meaning from the trip," Weihenmayer said. "The > changes in the kids are mostly all Sabriye's influence, but the climb was > extra > fuel." > > The six young adults have been able to travel for the film's release, and > Gyenshen attended the Tokyo premiere alone to head a question-and-answer > session. > He now runs the only Braille publishing company in Tibet. > > Dachung now studies at Braille Without Borders vocational school. Sohnam > Bhumtso attends a regular school and is the head of her class. > > Tashi and Tenzin opened the largest medical massage clinic in Lhasa. Kyila > went to the U.K. to study English and returned to Tibet to help run Braille > Without > Borders. > > And Weihenmayer started a program in Colorado called Global Explorers, in > which he climbs with blind children in the U.S. > > Copyright 2008 The > Associated Press. > All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, > rewritten, or redistributed. > > Find this article at: > http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/02/film.climbingblind.ap/i ndex.html > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.i n > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.i n To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
