Blind Young Things
Encyclopedia
Blind Young Things is a 2007 British documentary about students at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford
. The film was shown on Channel 4
as part of the Cutting Edge
documentary strand, and aired on 30 April 2007. The film won a Royal Television Society
award for Channel Four and the Cutting Edge team in 2008.
which made the film on behalf of Channel 4 said; "I have worked in specialist educational environments before, but I had almost no experience of people with a visual impairment or blindness. I wanted to make a documentary with some of the students to explore with them their daily lives. It is interesting to see what is different for them and what is the same; their experiences of daily life can be fundamentally altered by their visual impairment yet that doesn't stop them from having the same hopes and fears as a sighted person."
Steve Markham, 18, from Rotherham
is a keen sportsman and talented musician who has been completely blind since birth. He is studying Performing Arts
with the aim of moving on to university and plans a career teaching drama and music. Daniel Angus from Bradford
is a budding songwriter and singer whose ambition is to develop a career in the music industry. He is also blind and hopes that his time at college will help him improve his confidence, mobility and daily living skills. Selina Litt, from Leicester
is blind in one eye and experiencing deteriorating sight in her other eye. She is at RNC to improve her independence before seeking employment in the accounting profession.
The film examines their individual journeys towards greater independence as they encounter the unique challenges that being visually impaired presents. The programme also looks at how they deal with the every day issues that affect all teenagers, such as sex, relationships, partying and their future plans after graduation.
Reviewing the documentary for BBC Radio 4
's In Touch, the opera singer Denise Leigh, who is herself visually impaired
was generally positive about it. "I think it broke down barriers, I don't think it was ground breaking in any sense at all, but I think it showed that there are less divisions between the blind teenage community adolescents - whatever you want to call them - and the sighted college community." On the same programme, the Time Out television critic Alkarim Jivani said "[...] I feel that the great thing about this documentary, if there is one distinguishing factor of good documentaries, it makes us feel that there's less that divides from each other than joins us."
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
. The film was shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
as part of the Cutting Edge
Cutting Edge (Channel 4 TV series)
Cutting Edge is a British TV documentary series broadcast by Channel 4, it has been its flagship documentary series since 1990 that focuses on political and social issues.-Graham Taylor: The Impossible Job:Original airdate: 24 January 1994...
documentary strand, and aired on 30 April 2007. The film won a Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
award for Channel Four and the Cutting Edge team in 2008.
Background
Zac Beattie (the film's Producer and Director) and his team spent several months at the college researching for the programme. Beattie, a producer with North One TelevisionNorth One Television
North One Television is a television production company based in London and Birmingham, England, and Sydney, Australia. It was originally known as Chrysalis Television and is now part of All3Media....
which made the film on behalf of Channel 4 said; "I have worked in specialist educational environments before, but I had almost no experience of people with a visual impairment or blindness. I wanted to make a documentary with some of the students to explore with them their daily lives. It is interesting to see what is different for them and what is the same; their experiences of daily life can be fundamentally altered by their visual impairment yet that doesn't stop them from having the same hopes and fears as a sighted person."
Synopsis
The film follows three young students during their first term at the college, where for many it is their first time away from home.Steve Markham, 18, from Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
is a keen sportsman and talented musician who has been completely blind since birth. He is studying Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
with the aim of moving on to university and plans a career teaching drama and music. Daniel Angus from Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
is a budding songwriter and singer whose ambition is to develop a career in the music industry. He is also blind and hopes that his time at college will help him improve his confidence, mobility and daily living skills. Selina Litt, from Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
is blind in one eye and experiencing deteriorating sight in her other eye. She is at RNC to improve her independence before seeking employment in the accounting profession.
The film examines their individual journeys towards greater independence as they encounter the unique challenges that being visually impaired presents. The programme also looks at how they deal with the every day issues that affect all teenagers, such as sex, relationships, partying and their future plans after graduation.
Reception
The film helped to raise the profile of the college, with hits on their website almost trebling. RNC also received a surge of inquiries from prospective students.Reviewing the documentary for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's In Touch, the opera singer Denise Leigh, who is herself visually impaired
Visual impairment
Visual impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive...
was generally positive about it. "I think it broke down barriers, I don't think it was ground breaking in any sense at all, but I think it showed that there are less divisions between the blind teenage community adolescents - whatever you want to call them - and the sighted college community." On the same programme, the Time Out television critic Alkarim Jivani said "[...] I feel that the great thing about this documentary, if there is one distinguishing factor of good documentaries, it makes us feel that there's less that divides from each other than joins us."
Awards
In 2008 the documentary won the Royal Television Society's Educational Impact in the Primetime Schedule Award. Judges called the show “brilliantly observed”.External links
- Blind Young Things at Channel4.com