Blindsight

Erik Weihenmayer’s biography sounds like a profile in courage for the extreme-sports generation. Born with a degenerative eye condition, he became completely blind as a teenager. He took up rock climbing and mountain climbing, eventually summiting Denali, Kilimanjaro and Everest, among others. When Weihenmayer proposes taking a group of blind Tibetan kids on a climbing expedition to Lhakpa-Ri, one of the lesser peaks near Everest, Walker films it all, and she’s not afraid to make Weihenmayer sometimes look like a goal-oriented jerk who doesn’t know when to quit. Walker is smart enough to let the tensions between Weihenmayer and the kids’ guardian play out, letting us see that for all the good Weihenmayer intends, his approach may simply not be right. That makes this uplifting doc all the more uplifting, because it doesn’t feel like a gloss job. The DVD includes a making-of featurette, updates on the climbers and some additional materials.