This documentary observes daily life and educational programs at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, serving students from kindergarten through high school. The film follows mobility training, Braille lessons, general academic classes, counseling, vocational practice, and recreational activities. From a student walking alone between classrooms for the first time to learning scenes utilizing tactile methods, moments of challenge and achievement are captured. Through this, it shows the process by which students and teachers develop autonomy and resilience beyond sensory limitations.

Blind, part of Frederick Wiseman’s series on the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, focuses on the education of visually impaired students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The program’s goal is to equip them with a wide range of skills for independent life, from orientation and mobility training to Braille instruction and traditional academic subjects. Wiseman’s camera also records counseling sessions, vocational training, staff meetings, and a range of recreational and athletic activities.

What makes Blind distinctive is the way it invites us to experience the world almost tactilely—a fitting approach for a film about non-visual experience. The faculty and administrators, some of whom are visually impaired themselves, emerge as models of patience and quiet dedication. Racial integration is presented as an unremarkable fact of daily life, while the film offers constant small revelations about how students confront and overcome the challenges before them. In the end, Blind is as much about the resilience and resourcefulness of its students as it is about the institution itself, leaving the viewer with a deepened understanding of—and respect for—the many ways people navigate the world without sight.

• ProducerFrederick WISEMAN
• Cinematography John DAVEY
• Edit Frederick WISEMAN
• Sound Frederick WISEMAN

Zipporah Films​​