[Nfbc-info] Fw: [NFBAffiliatePresidents] The film entitled Going Blind

[Mary Willows]

FYI.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wilson, Joanne" <JWilson at nfb.org>
To: <nfbaffiliatepresidents at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 7:24 AM
Subject: [NFBAffiliatePresidents] The film entitled Going Blind


Dear Affiliate and Chapter Presidents:
Some of you have asked about a film that is being screened across the nation 
and may be appearing soon on your local public television station.  The film 
is entitled Going Blind.  It is the story of New Yorker Joe Lovett, who is 
also the film's director, as he loses more and more of his vision to 
glaucoma.  You have asked whether anyone on our national staff has seen the 
film and what our thoughts are, and how you should react to its screening in 
your area or on your local public television station.
I, along with some other Federationists, have viewed this film.  It 
primarily focuses on the medical process of going blind, and in that respect 
it is an accurate portrayal of what many people who are losing vision 
experience.  Mr. Lovett is given little advice by the medical professionals 
who are trying to maintain his vision on how he will deal with its loss. 
Indeed, he tells us that he does not even realize how much vision he has 
lost until he visits a low vision therapist on the advice of someone other 
than his doctor.  Mr. Lovett interviews several blind individuals who are at 
various stages of coping with their blindness or vision loss, including an 
Iraq war veteran blinded by an explosion, an employee at The Seeing Eye, a 
young boy, and an art teacher who resumed her career after going blind and 
now works with students with multiple disabilities.  These individuals have 
adjusted to their blindness to widely varying degrees and have various 
things to say about their blindness and adjusting to it, some of which are 
easy to agree with and others which reflect typical misconceptions about 
blindness and blind people.
The filmmaker has often invited medical professionals, persons who appeared 
in the film, and others to participate in panel discussions following the 
screenings.  Mr. Lovett has reached out to and met with officials of the 
Federation, including Dr. Maurer, and is more than willing to have us attend 
screenings and participate in these panel discussions.  The NFB of New York 
has even set up literature tables at some of these events.  I participated 
in one of these panel discussions in Washington, D.C., following the 
Congressional screening of the film that recently took place in one of the 
Capitol office buildings.  Other Federationists, including our D.C. 
president and Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives John Paré, were 
also present for this screening.  The discussion was productive, and people 
seemed to appreciate our perspective.  We therefore encourage those of you 
who are aware of a screening in your area to arrange to attend and, whether 
from a panel or from the audience, participate in the discussion that 
follows the film.
As mentioned earlier, the film is currently being scheduled on public 
television stations throughout the country.  A current list of airings is 
located at 
http://www.goingblindmovie.com/broadcasts<http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/l?u=19996F9&e=20ABAF&c=9144&t=0&l=2B31078&email=Kv2GGEdotY%2Ft0B6D2GdV55jGAA6rwhdP>. 
In some cities, events may be organized around these airings.  I encourage 
you to check the Web site 
www.goingblindmovie.com<http://www.goingblindmovie.com> to learn if events 
are scheduled in your area, and to contact the organizers of these events. 
Ask if your chapter or division can participate in the event in any way, 
including handing out literature or participating in a post-screening 
discussion.  We can use screenings of it as a vehicle for encouraging 
participation in the National Federation of the Blind, for promoting our 
positive philosophy of blindness, for balancing the medical perspective 
represented in the film and likely to be represented in discussions of the 
film, for discussing discrimination and other barriers faced by the blind, 
and for emphasizing the importance of good training in the nonvisual 
alternative techniques of blindness.

Sincerely,
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

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