Nestled in the rice fields of the Philippines, a family faces the life-inhibiting consequences of blindness until a doctor visits the village and gives the gift of sight in under five minutes.

Salt Lake Film Society’s MAST program announces the screening of Second Sight, a short documentary film by award-winning MAST fellow Cole Sax.

The screening will take place at 6pm on Thursday, October 10th, at the SLFS-operated Broadway Centre Cinemas at 111 East Broadway (300 S), SLC, Utah 84111. Q&A with the filmmakers will follow the screening. The event is free of charge (underwritten by MAST) and open to the public.

Cole Sax is the Grand Prize Winner of MAST’s 2019 “Microdocs” competition, and a MAST grant recipient and fellow. Through MAST, Cole is now working on the feature expansion of Second Sight with mentorship from Oscar- and Emmy-nominee Irene Taylor Brodsky. Through MAST, Cole has also been mentored by Jeremiah Zagar, Floyd Russ, and Eric Doctorow.

This short cinematic docu-drama is about Joanaly Laniohan, a blind mother of four, her husband Virgilio, and their family’s journey to help their mother regain her sight. Second Sight is about this family's journey to overcome blindness, but also about the selfless people who work daily to change the fate of similar families all over the world.

“I began a career in filmmaking during a time when I was battling my own vision issues,” says Cole Sax. “Eight years ago, while I was on my way to school, I noticed a few black specs on the windshield of my car. I reached ahead and began to wipe them from my window. After four or five tries, I started to internalize that these specs were not on my windshield—they were on my eye. My vision created this.” Filming Second Sight was a personal journey for Cole, as he came to understand the vulnerability introduced by failing vision, and hope and relief in overcoming it.

This is exactly the kind of story we’re here to support—and the kind of filmmaker. We’re excited and honored to be part of Cole’s own story, his mentorship, his filmmaking, and now exhibiting a piece of his work at our landmark downtown venue. Congratulations, Cole, on a beautiful achievement!

(More information is available in the electronic press kit here.)