Parents of four remarkable children, Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier received a terrible medical diagnosis: three of them suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and incurable disease which would eventually make them blind.
“The diagnosis was a shock, and it was really difficult to live with,” Lemay said in an interview with Zoom. “But a specialist told me that the best thing I can do for my children is to fill their visual memory. She said: “You have to go through books and pictures. »
“So Seb and I decided, 'Well, let's go see them in real life.' And that was the beginning of a great, great adventure.
The Montreal family's global journey lasted 18 months and crossed several continents, including African wildlife, the pyramids of Egypt, Malaysia, a tropical forest, Nepal and the Himalayas.
“Blink” documents their travels and arrives in theaters nationwide on October 4.
“We planned everything. But then the pandemic hit and everything fell apart. So in the end, we left without any plan.
A film crew of at least three members followed them, which made the documentary possible – except that this group was nowhere in sight when the scariest event suddenly took place.
All six found themselves stuck in a cable car that stopped abruptly. Left hanging over the hours, it became a real nightmare as darkness fell, as did the temperature. They had no blankets or water. There is no bathroom. One of the children is in tears, another is vomiting.
“Yes,” Lemay said, “it was probably the worst moment. I knew the only way to keep everyone sane was to be as calm as possible.
“Also, this adventure happened near the end of the trip. It would have been a really different experience if it was at the beginning. But after a year of traveling, the kids were used to crazy and uncomfortable situations.
“I mean, we took a 24-hour bus trip to the middle of nowhere! So we practiced and were able to keep everyone sane.
“Honestly, yes,” she added, “it was the worst. But no one was traumatized. Now we see it as a funny adventure to tell people about.
“Blink” director Edmund Stenson was in Toronto when Sebastian called to say, “Ed, did you want some drama?” We are stuck in a cable car.
“Luckily the footage you see inside the car was filmed by Edith,” he said. “We had 10 to 12 hours of this, which is how long the family was there.
“What we had to do from a filmmaking standpoint was scramble and find someone to go and film these incredible, haunting shots outside of the suspended cable car.
“It’s a testament to how documentary works. You have to be ready to take action from the first moment.
