Among the Blind

AMONG THE BLIND - THE EXTREME LIFE OF ANDY HOLZER tells of coping with life, of dreams and crossing borders. Andy Holzer is 46 years old, extreme mountaineer and blind. He is the only professional mountaineer in Europe who cannot see. The fact that Andy Holzer is blind is only one aspect of his life, and that we live in a society that overvalues deficits, that focuses on people's weaknesses rather than their strengths, is something that every child can already see in our school system. How liberating it is to stand by one's weaknesses and concentrate on one's strengths is told in the film in an exciting and funny way, based on the story of Andy Holzer and the people around him. The singer George Nussbaumer, who represented Austria in the 1996 song contest, is also blind. He has a similarly dry sense of humor as Andy Holzer, but a completely different "view" on life and being blind. The argument between the two about the different nature of their perceptions forms a highlight of the film.