Guy cures a Disney villain’s friend’s fear with a super fun ‘exposure therapy’.

“Blink,” a new film by National Geographic Documentary Films it shows how a family with four children, three of whom are going blind, embraces life despite an uncertain future. It is a testament to the tenacity of the Lemay-Pelletier family but it is also a reminder to all of us to seize the day because all of our futures are uncertain.

Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier are the parents of Mia, a 13-year-old girl, and three boys: Léo, 11, Colin, 9, and Laurent, 7. Six years ago, they learned that Mia and the wife of home. the two youngest boys have retinitis pigmentosaa rare genetic disease in which cells in the retina slowly die. As the disease progresses, the person experiences “tunnel vision” that shrinks until very little remains.

The death devastated the parents. “The most difficult part of the diagnosis was not working. There is nothing they can do about it. There is no treatment,” Edith says in the film.

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However, although parents could not affect the development of this disease, they could give their children a strong attitude that would benefit them for the rest of their lives.

“We don’t know how soon it will go, but we expect them to be completely blind when they are in the middle of life,” said the parents. Mia’s disability counselor suggested that they supplement her visual memory with pictures from books. “I thought, I will not show him the elephant in the book; I will take him to see a real elephant,” Edith explains in the film. And I will fill his visual memory with the best pictures I can.

The Pelletier family (from left): Mia, Sebastien, Colin, Edith Lemay, Laurent and Leo from Kuujjuaq, Canada.by National Geographic/Katie Orlinsky

This realization led to an inspiring year-long journey through 24 countries, where every member of the family had something on their bucket list. Mia swam with dolphins, Edith went on a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, and Léo saw elephants on a tour.

Colin fulfilled his dream of sleeping on a moving train while Sébastien saw the historical site of Angkor Wat.

Pelletier explains: “We were focused on the things we could see. We also focused a lot on animals and plants. We saw amazing animals in Africa but also in other places. So we were really trying to make them see things that they wouldn’t have seen at home and have the most amazing experiences.”

The cameras followed the family for 76 days as they traveled to faraway places, including Namibia, Mongolia, Egypt, Laos, Nepal and Turkey. Along the way, the family made friends with the local people and wild animals. In a heartbreaking episode, the boys cried when the family had to leave a dog named Bella that they had befriended in the mountains of Nepal.

But the film is not only about the wonders of nature and family friendship. This family’s trip turns terrifying when they are trapped in a cable car suspended hundreds of meters above the Ecuadorian jungle for more than 10 hours.

Leo, Laurent, Edith, Colin, Mia and Sebastien looking at the mountains of the Annapurna range.by MRC/Jean-Sébastien Francoeur

As expected, NatGeo’s filmmakers capture the family journey beautifully, and in the case of “Blink,” this wonderful perspective is even more important. In some of the film’s quietest moments, we see children taking in the wonders of the world, from the vast White Desert in Egypt to a fearless butterfly in Nepal, with the full knowledge that their eyes will fail one day.

Along the way, the family took as many pictures as possible to document the memories they made on their adventure. Edith says: “Maybe they will be able to look at the photos and pictures and bring back those stories, those memories, of the family together.”

But the film is about more than travel adventures and the pain of grief; ultimately, it’s about family.

“In moderation [the parents’ grief] with an innocent and fun story of wonder and discovery like children, we felt we could go beyond the list of places and capture everything,” said the directors of Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher. subtle relationships between each of them. This is a film based on looks, gestures and small details – the very basis of our relationships with others. ”

Finally, “Blink” is a great movie to watch with your loved ones because it is a great reminder to appreciate the wonders of our world, the gift of our senses and the beauty of family.

The film will open in more than 150 theaters in the US and Canada starting Oct. 4 and will premiere on National Geographic Channel and air on Disney+ and Hulu later this year. Visit the Blink site for more information.