Behind 'Blink': A Family's Race Against Time, National Geographic Doc

0:09Jawad MirGood morning, everyone. This is Jawad, your host of Kingdom of Dreams podcast. Welcome to another episode. Today my guest is Edith and Sebastian. They're a couple, and they're the protagonist of a documentary called Blink, which will be premiering on December 16th on National Geographic, followed by December 17th on Hulu and Disney+. Blink is a Canadian documentary about a family who travels the world to experience the beauty before their kids lose their vision due to a genetic disorder. It is an incredible film, a powerful tribute to human spirit, and I really urge you take the time to watch this film with your family, as it's meant for everyone. Again, the film premieres on December 16th on National Geographic, followed by December 17th on Hulu and Disney+. I had a pleasure of getting to know your story about, I don't know, four years ago. It was in the news or something. It was around COVID time, and I was really fascinated. And then here we are.

1:09Jawad MirI was so glad to see... 'Cause I'm a director myself, and I was really intrigued by your story. And here we are four years later, you know, a well worthy film being made on your journey. What an incredible story you guys have. Thank you for sharing that.

1:24Guest 1It's a pleasure.

1:25Guest 2It's a pleasure.

1:27Jawad MirTell me how you guys got started on the film itself.

1:34Guest 1You know, it was, it was never our plan to make a film or…

1:39Jawad MirYeah

1:39Guest 1... A documentary. And actually, they got… they reached out to us on social media, and we were already two months into the trip. And they reached out, and we didn't know what to think of it. Actually, we thought at first, "Oh, you know, documentary, not... Documentary, not many people watch documentaries, so it's gonna be just a little movie that nobody watches, and it's gonna be a great souvenir for us." So we said, "Yeah, you know, why not?" We never expected it to, be that big. But here we are. But we are so happy with the result.

2:21Jawad MirAmazing. When you first started your journey, I mean, as I can see the… some of the footage, obviously, I don't know when that was, some of the footage was filmed, but did you guys always have this notion of documenting your journey just for your own keepsake, even before you were approached?

2:37Guest 2Yeah, exactly.

2:37Guest 1Yeah, exactly. With the, with the GoPro. I didn't know what I would do, with it. And like some people approach us for documentaries, but little things and it never, you know, it never came to…

2:53Guest 2Materialized

2:54Guest 1... Materialize. So, we just, "Okay, we're gonna document that part, and we'll see." and I had the envision of like making m… making something out with my personal archive just for the kids, just for memory. But I'm terrible. I hate editing videos. So I'm really glad. Just for that, I'm really glad it was a crew that

3:17Guest 2No, but Edith's goal was to take as much pictures and video as possible. She took forty thousand pictures, a hundred fifty hours of video. So, you know, I think that was one way for her to cope with it or to go through it and give back to the kids. But the documentary was a way to have Edith on the other side of the camera and actually part of a... The trip and the family.

3:42Jawad MirRight. One of the biggest challenges, is, you know, documenting while something dramatic is happening, and you have to figure out, "Am I supposed to do this, or am I supposed to resolve the problem that is..." Point being, the gondola where you guys, you know, are…

3:59Guest 1Oh, was it?

4:00Jawad MirAll right. I've gone through that myself, where I have to make a call about, you know, doing something that is right or whether to continue filming. So how did you guys deal with that?

4:11Guest 1It… like most of the time, it's… it was something more, like, not dr… not this dramatic like the gondola. But during the trip, I would not film like if the kids would get hurt, because I was the mom first. But the gondola was really specific because it was for ten hours that we were stuck in there. So it was actually very boring most of the time. You know, in a movie you see like just a few minutes. So you see the end when the stress is high.

4:38Guest 1But most part of it was mainly very boring, and I think filming it, was a way, really helped me to focus on something else than where I was and what was happening. So it helped me, you know, be calmer, I think, and to focus on something else and also for the kids. You know, I made them like do jokes and film silly, just tons of things that we filmed, but just to, keep our minds out of it. Towards the end when it got really stressful, I think I was a little, torn between should I keep filming, but at the same time…

5:24Guest 2Yeah, I was on the other side…

5:25Guest 1Yeah, he was like…

5:25Guest 2... And asked her to stop filming.

5:26Guest 1He was tired of seeing me. But for me, I was just in it already. So part, I think part of my mind was more as like, "Oh, I'm filming this. That's gonna be great for the movie." so but it helped me, for that. I don't know if it like... I guess it was a right call, but it did bother... Like, I think it bothered him a little bit…

5:47Guest 2Yeah.

5:48Guest 1... During the filming.

5:50Jawad MirYeah, it, I completely understand. And I, you know, it's, it's, it's a tough call, but in hindsight, obviously, it was probably the right call.

5:59Guest 2Yeah, no, exactly. But when you're into it's just like…

6:01Jawad MirYeah

6:02Guest 2... The last thing you wanna see.

6:03Guest 1Turn off your camera.

6:06Jawad MirYeah. You know, the film covered a lot of parts, obviously, and a lot of stuff obviously gets taken out for, you know, creative purposes and for the flow of the film. One of the things that I, more at a human level I'm really curious about, it was in the film but just to get a little bit more depth of it, is that how do you make a decision, especially, you know, in a marriage, like, it's really hard for a couple to agree on anything, you know, but let alone such a big decision of traveling and just leaving everything behind, obviously for the sake of the kids. But what was that dynamic like? How... Was it like a mutual agreement right off the bat for both of you, or was there a lot of convincing and discussion?

6:50Guest 2No, I think that one was one of the easiest…

6:52Jawad MirReally?

6:52Guest 2... In the sense that individually, you know, with our families a… and together we travel a lot. Even when we had our first kids, we traveled a lot. So traveling has always been part of who we are and what we love, in life. So that part is somewhat easy. And I think with the diagnostic, you know, when Edith went to meet the specialist and she said, you know, "You should... You know, the best thing you can do is build their me… their visual memories and, you know, show pictures and books of animals, like giraffes and elephants and other things," that for us it was obvious is that there's no way we're just gonna show them in books. You know, we're just gonna go see the real thing. So for us going on a, on a trip, it's probably not a question of if, but a question of when. But with that situation it's like there's no way we're gonna wait for it. Let's just do it now. There's an urgency to do it, and

7:44Guest 1We didn't even discuss it, I think.

7:46Guest 2No, I think, I think it was just like…

7:47Guest 1Our... Like, it was just, "Okay, we're going." That's it. That was the extent of the…... The discussion. Th… that was more when, where, but are we going, how we're gonna do that, it didn't matter.

7:58Guest 2Yeah, everybody has a different way of what they like in life. For us, traveling is part of it, and that's something we want to share with the kids. With the urgency and, you know, specifically the vision is something that... And, you know, our first goal was not only see animals, but also the great landscapes. And that dre… drove a little what the countries we chose, like Namibia, Mongolia, where you see wide expanses of, you know, crazy beautiful landscape. So sunsets, sunrise

8:28Guest 1We don't... We didn't argue ever even where to go.

8:32Guest 2No.

8:33Guest 1We... I don't know. We just... We…

8:37Jawad MirI think the case in point is your kids, right? Like, that's the mutual understanding that you have, and that's what you're doing it for. So that's probably one of the many reasons…

8:48Guest 1Yeah

8:48Jawad Mir... You probably guys kind of went along with it, because it was for the benefit of everybody in the family.

8:52Guest 2Oh, yeah, definitely.

8:53Guest 1Exactly.

8:53Guest 2Yeah, for sure. But…

8:55Guest 1It's easier to agree when it's, like, it's not our personal needs. It's really the kids' needs. So we're all on the same page on that.

9:03Guest 2Yeah.

9:04Jawad MirWell, I'm sure there's a little bit of your own interests involved.

9:07Guest 2Oh, for sure. We each had our countries and specific things we wanted to do, for sure. So…

9:12Jawad MirYeah.

9:12Guest 2... You know, when going nine days on a hike was a little tougher. So there's different thing... Yes, there... In the smaller things, for sure. In the big, bigger picture was easier. In the smaller things there's always, preferences and things like that. But we managed to do pretty much, you know, as a lot of things we wanted to do.

9:33Jawad MirRight. Was there a time, a moment or moments, kinda like the gondola being the example, where either financially or physically or just, you know, safety-wise, was this the right decision that we made? Or was it always like this was the best thing that we've done and we gotta keep going at it?

9:53Guest 1So many times. What are we doing? Why are we here? I…

9:59Jawad MirGive me a, give me an example, like one story if you can think of.

10:02Guest 2Yeah, no. I think that…

10:03Guest 1Namibia. N… like in Nam… no, the Tahzara. The example, we were... One of the plan was to, take the Tahzara. We were in Africa and… ... There's that big train. It's a three-day train that goes from Zambia to Tanzania, and we're like, "Okay, we're gonna take that train ride." And we couldn't find on internet, like, any, like there was no website or it... There was just that email. So we can, we could not make any reservation. But all the blogs said, "Okay, get to Lusaka and get your ticket there." So, okay. We, like, that trip, like, it took us a few days to get there, and then we get there and there's no train. The train is down because there's a…

10:49Guest 2Bridge

10:49Guest 1... Bridge that, broke on the rail, and they say, "Oh, no, the start tra… the trains start only in Tanzania." So we're in the middle of Zambia, and we're like, "Okay, what do we do next? We don't even know..." Like, we were, "Why are we doing this to ourselves?" And we had to take a bus. It was a 12-hour bus ride. It was…

11:12Guest 2That took 16.

11:13Guest 1That took 16, and it was crowded, and it never stopped. Like, it was very uncomfortable, and we were all sick. So really that moment we're like, "Why are we doing this?" You know, it would have been such a better idea to just take a plane and get there.

11:31Guest 2Yeah, I th… I think…

11:31Guest 1But it's…

11:32Guest 2Yeah, transportation is the, is the one we really wanted to take less planes and we wanted to take local transport. So we really did a lot of those, and some of which, that being an example, were a little, I wouldn't say sketchier, but a little harder. Just long, uncomfortable

11:51Guest 1But then it make the best…

11:52Guest 2Yeah

11:52Guest 1... Memories at the same time. You know, the kids, like, we all remember that.

11:57Guest 2In retrospect, yeah. In retrospect where, you know, a lot of our souvenirs are in the transports, but while we're in there it's, yeah, I guess it's something that we build on and we're able to withstand, you know, 10 hours in a gondola, whereas if it had been at the beginning, might be, it would've been a different experience.

12:15Jawad MirRight. You know, what is one thing that you guys learned about each of your kids?... And yourselves while on this journey that you didn't realize it was there before?

12:29Guest 1Le… let's start with Leo. Leo's the easiest. Leo, I think what we realized is how amazingly easy it is for him to make friends. You know, e… every time you would get to, like in, like, bunch of kids playing, within three minutes he, like, he was playing with everybody, he was friends with everybody. So that was really amazing to see, with Leo. Mia, I think it was how, you know, a second mom in the family she was. We, you know, we see that through her, but during the trip she was really, organizing and making sure that, we were going to right places. She was always aware, you know, of the planning and trying to sometimes, "Oh, we need to go there. We need..." So she was really good at it. Colin is, I think what we realized is how funny he is.

13:33Jawad MirYeah.

13:33Guest 1He was always... He's the shy one in the family.

13:35Guest 2Well, he's the one that you wouldn't expect to be funny…

13:38Guest 1Exactly

13:38Guest 2... And he is in his own way, and it's a much more subtle way than, let's say Laurent for example, who's the clown.

13:45Guest 1Yeah. Colin is not a clown. He doesn't need the attention, but then he's gonna make a little joke and just laugh for himself. And…... I think what you need to spend a lot of time, because in the, in the daily life you don't realize that because, you know, it's time to brush your teeth and to eat and to do s… like, serious stuff. But being on the trip, we had more time with them, which was an incredible gift for us as a family.

14:12Jawad MirRight.

14:12Guest 1So we realized how funny he is. Laurent is,.. Oh, God, how many question... Like, the, it…

14:22Jawad MirYeah

14:22Guest 1... How many question can a kid ask? He's just an endless, well of question. It doesn't mat…

14:29Guest 2Yeah, he has a curiosity well beyond, you know, a lot of people we know. It's…

14:34Guest 1Yeah, it's, it's more than…

14:35Guest 2... Insatiable.

14:36Guest 1Yeah.

14:36Guest 2Insatiable.

14:36Guest 1It's a curiosity, but also just where does this question come from, you know?

14:43Guest 2When the Earth is gonna explode in five billion years, so, you know, is every human being gonna die or something like that? So it's like…

14:50Jawad MirOh, wow.

14:51Guest 1Or silly thing. You know, we went to see those, in Indonesia, the headhunters. So they had human head, like old ones.

15:02Guest 2Shrunken.

15:03Guest 1Shrun… they're not shrunken. Dried, whatever. You know, died, dead head. Dead head, like, that were hanging there, and Laurent's looking at it, and he asked those weird question, "Are they really dead?" "Yes." "Okay. Were they dead when they cut the head? Are they still thinking?" You know, all those question. You know, "If you put them in water, are they gonna go back to life?" You know, he's just like... Well, that's so weird that, like, a five years old will ask those question. He's not just spook out or just scared, so, yeah, that was, amazing to see Laurent, to be more in his head and to see the world through his eyes is just, wow, there's so many question to be asked about the world that we didn't know existed.

15:51Jawad MirYes. Amazing. And what about yourselves, both of you? What did you guys learn about yourselves?

15:57Guest 1About myself…

16:00Jawad MirAbout…

16:01Guest 1About Seb, like I say about Seb what I learned is how amazing a, plan… trip planner he is, because he's responsible for planning everything. And wow, he did such an incredible job. Ah, he was so good at it. And I knew he was good, but to that extent, that was amazing. He... Everything went so well because of him, so.

16:29Guest 2Well, and yeah, I think one thing, you know, we learned about, well, not each other, but we knew in, you know, in everyday life, but traveling together you have to complement each other, and you have to... You know, we each had their own thing, and we completely gave our confidence on you're gonna do it, and I don't have to think about it. And that really helped us because if we each had t… you know, to do the same things, it would never work, or it would be just too cumbersome. So I think being able to trust each other really helped out, and we each really defined this is what I'm gonna do, this is what…

17:04Guest 1Yeah

17:04Guest 2... You know, you're gonna do. And, being able to do it and go through the trip, doing that really was helpful. And that, you know, planning side, yes, but also emotionally where, you know, at some point you're just worn out, and the other one would take over, a… and give us some rest. So I think that also being 24/7 with kids, if we didn't have that, you know, we probably would have packed and came back earlier.

17:30Guest 1I think we realized we knew we were a great team, but, I think…

17:35Guest 2That tests you to the, to the limit

17:37Guest 1... To the limit, and I think we just realized, wow, we really are an amazing team together, so it just…

17:44Jawad MirYeah

17:44Guest 1... Confirmed that.

17:45Jawad MirYou know, one of the things that happens when you're traveling, and it happens to me, I'm sure it happens to, happened to you guys, but would like to know if that's the case, and how did you overcome that, is that whether you're traveling with your friend or your spouse or your family, whoever, and because you're just limit to the, limited to those people most of the time, and you're not used to spending that much time, so you have to figure out a way of making conversation about things that you normally don't. Was that challenging in the beginning? Even though you're a family, but obviously you're not spending that much time together, right, at home, with school, and work. How was that sort of taken care of, or was it organic by itself?

18:25Guest 1I think it was more organic, especially with kids. I mean, they talk nonstop and they're just

18:32Guest 2Quiet was more difficult than talking?

18:35Guest 1Quiet was... Yeah. I think what was hard... Not hard, but what we had to learn is to communicate better together when there's problem and, make sure to resolve, any, conflict quickly. Because when you're at home, when... Like, it's easy. "Okay, I'm mad. I'm gonna go, you know, in my room and take some time out."

18:59Guest 2Yeah.

18:59Guest 1But, like, in the trip we were in the same room, so we had to manage, that together, so be able to resolve the conflict and how do we talk to each other so it doesn't,.. You don't get irritated. And that was a constant, like... Yes, we learned, but it's still a work in progress. But, it made us, tighter as a family, because now I think it's easier as a family to be together and to face these, like, little challenges in life together.

19:35Jawad MirYeah. I mean, kudos to you guys that you guys spent time in one room throughout this trip. I don't know how I would last, but

19:43Guest 1It was hard.

19:43Jawad MirYou know, hats off to you guys.

19:45Guest 1It was very hard.

19:46Guest 2It was... Yeah, it wasn't only, it wasn't only the good.

19:49Guest 1No, it was tiring, but it was the, like... It was the wor… the hardest part and the best part at the same time to be, like, together 24/7.

19:58Guest 2Yeah.

19:58Guest 1It's amazing gift, but the hardest part. It was…

20:02Guest 2Yeah, like fighting who's gonna sleep in, with whom in the bed and you know.

20:06Guest 1Yeah, constant fighting and…

20:08Guest 2Yeah, it…

20:09Guest 1But yes, it wasn't easy, but…

20:12Jawad MirYeah

20:13Guest 1... Yeah, it was great…

20:14Jawad MirRight

20:14Guest 1... And fun.

20:16Jawad MirAbout your kids' condition, where it is at right now and how... I mean, what is their process like, you know, dealing with it while, being around? Like, one of the greatest lines in the film is what you said, Sebastian. It's so true. I don't remember the exact quote, but the idea of when one of your senses goes away, the other senses kicks in automatically, right? Like, that's just the way we're built. Like, how are they coping with it thru… dur… during the entire trip and even now?

20:46Guest 1Their vision is still good during the day, because it progresses. Like, what we know now is it progress really slowly. So the night vision is gone, but the night vision is not, like, as,.. There's less impact because it's easy to fix with more lights in,.. The day vision, it's still good. We see on the scans that, like, the cells are dying, but right now it doesn't affect their day vision. So they don't, they don't feel it too much. They know it's coming, but there's no, impact too much in their life right now. And because they're kids, they don't, they don't think about the future, you know. They live in the present, and my daughter is really good at that. Because people ask her all the time, and her answer is, "It's in the future. There's no point worrying about it."

21:43Guest 2Especially since she can't do anything about it.

21:45Guest 1Yeah. "I can't do about it…"

21:47Guest 2Yeah

21:47Guest 1... "so why worry? Like, life is good right now. I'm gonna enjoy it as much as possible, and I'll face the challenges when they come." But also she's really confident that she's gonna overcome them. She doesn't know how, but, you know, she... And I think that was one of the greatest thing about the trip is they've learned that they can be in, like, really uncomfortable situation and, like the gondola, like, for example, it was a hard moment, but I felt with my kid after all that travel that they were confident that it's gonna be okay. So I think the trip…

22:27Guest 1... Taught them that. But also as parent, it showed us how resilient they were. So it also…

22:35Jawad MirYeah

22:35Guest 1... Makes us confidence about the future.

22:39Jawad MirThat's wonderful. One of the thing traveling does, it really changes the way you think about the world, but also more importantly the way you think about yourself, right? It just completely changes your structure, your DNA, everything. Was there a moment, you know, when you go to these countries,.. And there are certain part of the countries, not obviously everywhere, you know, where you might see somebody probably not in as good position as you may be, and you tend to be grateful for who you are and what you have despite their, you know, problems that they're going through. W… was... Can you guys, both of you, talk about one moment like that kind of gave that

23:24Guest 2There's, there's so many, but there's one thing that... We went in a small village in, Zambia, and… ... And the kids were... Thought it was really funny. There was a well where they could fill the water and, you know, they had fun and…

23:37Guest 1They thought it was fun.

23:38Guest 2Yeah.

23:38Guest 1You know, they look at the kids, "Oh, they're so lucky to have…"

23:40Guest 2Yeah

23:40Guest 1... "a well to…"

23:41Guest 2S… so they filled the bucket, but now they…

23:44Guest 1Yeah

23:44Guest 2... They had to transport it back to the home and they realized, "Geez, you know, this is tough." And they do this several times a day, and we're so fortunate to just have running water and electricity that, you know, it... We take it for granted, and that's seems like basic, but not everybody in the world has it, and that was a realization where, you know, people don't always have it as easy as we do. And we're very fortunate. That's just one very extreme example, but we, you know, there's so many of them and…

24:14Guest 1Yeah, a… and it's so different level.

24:16Guest 2Yeah.

24:16Guest 1The level of, like, comfort, like running water, electricity, food, but also freedom, especially a… as a woman, like so many country where women were not as free, and even men in some countries…

24:31Guest 2Yeah

24:31Guest 1... As well. Just the…

24:32Guest 2Yeah

24:32Guest 1... Like, how the culture, like, keeps you in certain rules and you have no freedom. And it was very… you always, it, your problems after that seem so small.

24:49Jawad MirYeah.

24:50Guest 2Yeah, and one thing, you know, you know it or we knew it when we, you know, went... Because we've traveled before, but we really realized it or had the kid realizing it is that, you know, fundly… fundamentally people, you know, human beings are good. And people all over the world, however they live or what they have, they're not different and they're good human beings. And I think that's one thing that we were able to see, you know, let's say teach but…

25:18Guest 1Experience. Yeah

25:18Guest 2... To experience.

25:20Jawad MirYeah.

25:20Guest 2I… I… is that, you know, people are good all over the world and…

25:26Guest 1We tend to be scared.

25:27Guest 2Yeah.

25:27Guest 1Because when you hear in the news about other countries…

25:29Jawad MirYeah

25:29Guest 1... It's always bad news. You don't hear…

25:32Jawad MirYeah

25:32Guest 1... About great things that are happening everywhere in the world. You only hear about, like, wars or cr… crimes or the, like, how dangerous it is. But when you travel, so you... People tend to be scared of so many places, but when you get there, most people are good human beings.

25:53Guest 2Yeah.

25:53Guest 1And they're... It's amazing to connect with them everywhere.

25:59Guest 2In Asia, you're like…

26:00Jawad MirYeah

26:00Guest 2... We're like, "Can we lock our door?" They're like, "Why would you lock your door?" They're like, "No, that, we don't do that here."

26:05Jawad MirYeah.

26:05Guest 2If anybody steals, you know, the whole village is gonna go after them, you know?

26:11Guest 1Yeah.

26:11Jawad MirYeah. No, that's, that's so true. I was in Nova Scotia for one of my films, and I... It was a village that we've spent three, four years on and off.

26:19Guest 1Wow.

26:19Jawad MirAnd nobody locked their doors. Nobody locked their doors. But it also is very true that one thing I loved what you said is that freedom. I find that everything in life begins and ends with freedom. You know, the fact that you guys had the freedom to go even leave the country, which a lot of people can't because of…

26:37Guest 1Yeah

26:37Jawad Mir... Financial or visa or just their government policies, is such a blessing in that you can see the world.

26:44Guest 1Yeah. We are so privileged to be able to do that, you know? Yes, the reason why we did it is sad, and yes…

26:56Jawad MirYeah

26:56Guest 1... It's sad, but the reality is was we're really, privileged to have the chance to do that. And I'm so glad I get to share it, as much as, like, on the social media. But with that movie, for me, it was one thing to be... We've seen so much, we've learned so much, that to be able to share it was such an amazing opportunity for us.

27:22Jawad MirYeah.

27:22Guest 1It was a way to give back because we had the chance to do it, and so little people are able to do it. So

27:32Jawad MirAmazing

27:32Guest 1... We… we're grateful for that.

27:34Jawad MirThat's super. Well, we got a little bit, 10 minutes left, so I'm just gonna try to, close it up with a few questions. Now you're doing this press tour. You know, the film is coming up online and, being shown at screenings and everything. You guys, yourself, along with your kids, how are you coping with g… with that? Because sometimes that can become a little too much, you know, especially for the kids, because their minds are not fully developed.

28:02Guest 1I don't think it affects them at all. They don't…

28:05Guest 2No, but I think, I think we've had a good balance of, you know, snippets of being more exposed a… as when we went to the Telluride Film Festival. But when they get back home… ... They're just normal kids in a normal class, and they fight, they play, they do everything normal. So, I think there's the, you know, there's the two sides, but we've been able to have a decent balance where…

28:29Guest 2... We also know that there's an end to it, so we're kind of, you know…

28:33Jawad MirYeah

28:33Guest 2... Doing the, being in the moment. But at the same time, we know that, you know, in six months from now, nobody's gonna talk about it anymore. So it is what it is. So let, you know, let's...

28:44Jawad MirYeah.

28:45Guest 2There's not gonna be a follow-up or a sequel or whatever you call it, you know?

28:51Guest 1Yeah. It's different. I,.. But for them, actually for the kids, yeah, we don't see... They don't, they're really not affected. And the reality is they don't know we do that many interviews, and they don't, they're not on…

29:02Jawad MirOkay, so you guys... Okay

29:03Guest 1... And they're not on social media…

29:05Guest 2Yeah

29:05Guest 1... So they don't see…

29:06Jawad MirGood

29:06Guest 1... Like, you know, sometimes they're gonna like, "We're gonna share a little article," but I don't know. They don't realize it yet. My daughter, like…

29:14Jawad MirWell, that's, that's the…

29:16Guest 1Yeah.

29:17Jawad MirYeah. That's the key, right? They don't have social media because if they did…

29:21Guest 2Yes

29:21Jawad Mir... Then that might result into something different.

29:23Guest 1Exactly.

29:24Guest 2That's, that's maybe a good... Well, not maybe. That's a good thing, espe… you know, at their age…

29:28Guest 1Yeah

29:28Guest 2... I think that's

29:29Guest 1And Mia was able to turn it around because she was an ambassador for a, children hospital here in Montreal. So she was able to use that, as a way to give back, and sh… that was a great way to do it. So, it's, it's really positive for her to be able to use her voice, for something so positive.

29:53Jawad MirAmazing. So you mentioned sequel or anything. And, you know, would something like of starting, un… unless you already have, like, a nonprofit or trying to create awareness about this disease or anything of that nature that you guys have thought about, sort of carry this thing forward?

30:09Guest 2Well, one thing we've tried to do is, you know, just telling the story is already a lot of awareness, and we're trying to build on that. But the way we've done it is more, encourage or direct towards, organization. You know, findingtheblindness.org is one thing that appears at the end of the movie. We have this children hospital that, the actual hospital who's following our kids. So…

30:31Guest 1There's already or… so many organization. I, like… ... I think starting something new would be really useful, more to, joining our voice…

30:41Guest 2Yeah

30:41Guest 1... With other, that's I th… we think that's the more meaningful way to do it.

30:45Guest 2Yeah. We're, we're trying to get more awareness to these organizations and especially regarding blindness. It's something that people are so scared about, they're, they don't wanna talk about it. So i… in a sense, the more we talk about it, the better it is. And, you know, if we can get more exposure to, these organization, it's, it... I think that's, that's what we'd be aiming for.

31:10Jawad MirThat's amazing. Well, that's really good. Listen, guys, you know, your story is incredible. And making that leap of faith and traveling the world, even for the sake of your own kids, is not an easy thing. So kudos to you that you guys have done that, and the result obviously is a wonderful film, Blink. And thank you so much for being involved, in it and, you know, showing us your story and sharing us your personal, sharing your personal moments with us.

31:39Guest 1Thank you. It's really a privilege for us to be able to do that.

31:43Jawad MirGreat. Thank you so much, guys. Appreciate your time, Sebastian and Edith.

31:47Guest 2Thank you.

31:47Guest 1Thank you so much.