[NFBSF] Join Us for a Movie Screening on August 29

[LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired]

Movie Screening of “Baldy for the Blind” at LightHouse!

On August 29, LightHouse will hold a free, audio-described screening of “Baldy for the Blind”, a documentary about a group of blind hikers attempting to summit Mount Baldy, which has an elevation of 10,000 feet.

Directly after the screening, a Q&A with hiker Melissa Hudson, director Drea Castro and mountain guide Chris Lynch will be held. But before the screening, here’s a bit of background on the film.

Melissa and the other perspective blind climbers learned about the opportunity to train for the climb from the Braille Institute in Los Angeles. “I was asked, ‘Do you want to try hiking?’ and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’” recalled Melissa laughing.

For three months, the climbers and volunteer sighted guides trained with mountain guide Chris Lynch on a series of increasingly difficult hikes and on July 17, 2010, they hiked up Mount Baldy.

One of the sighted guides was film director Drea Castro, an actress and filmmaker. After the first training hike, she had a revelation, “Initially, I was only supposed to be a sighted guide, but I realized pretty quickly, that I needed to help tell this story,” she said in her film director statement<https://baldyfortheblind.com/>. So, cameras came along to document the training process and the climb up Mount Baldy.

Thus, the thirteen-year journey to completing “Baldy for the Blind” Drea’s first feature-length film, began.

Melissa gave her thoughts upon watching the film when it was completed in 2023, “I was surprised when I watched the film for the first time to learn things I didn’t know about people’s stories. Every climber’s story is important; we just need to take the time to listen. People think it’s a huge obstacle to cross the street when you can’t see and it’s difficult to talk to people about disability. With this film, Drea takes the time to speak to each of us, to tell our stories, and I appreciate that.”

In her director’s statement, Drea reflected on what she learned by listening to blind people tell their own stories, “[Before this experience] I didn’t really know too many visually impaired or blind people, so I had a stereotypical, narrow view of the disabled community. That naive, young minded, biased way of thinking quickly changed.”

And it’s those stories, along with the experience of training for and hiking up Mount Baldy that will be on display in the film. Melissa summed it up, “This is more than just a film about a group of hikers that are trying to summit a mountain. It’s about everyone’s personal mountains that we’re trying to climb; it’s about everyone persevering in our own way in life.”

The details:
What: “Baldy for the Blind” audio-described screening followed by Q&A
When: Thursday, August 29, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm (doors open at 5:00 pm for refreshments, screening starts at 5:30 pm)
Where: LightHouse HQ, 1155 Market St. 10th floor, San Francisco, 94103 (directions to LightHouse San Francisco<https://lighthouse-sf.org/about/directions/>)
RSVP: To Maia Scott at MScott at lighthouse-sf.org<mailto:MScott at lighthouse-sf.org> or 415-694-7608.


[LightHouse for the Blind - Logo]
1155 Market Street, 10th Floor SF 94103
Visit us online:
Website<https://lighthouse-sf.org/> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/lighthousesf/> | YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/user/LFTBSF> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/lighthouseblind/>



Please visit our website to get to know us better!
LightHouse-SF.org<https://lighthouse-sf.org/>
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