Enriching Education: Open Your Eyes

Premiering on HBO on July 18, OPEN YOUR EYES is a heartfelt and uplifting documentary that brings viewers high up the Himalayan mountains of Nepal to witness extraordinary moments of beauty and humanity as doctors restore eyesight to villagers who have been blind for decades.  

The acclaimed film is directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky (Beware the Slenderman, Hear and Now) and produced by world renowned philanthropist and epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant, who has devoted his life to combating the world's most pressing global health issues.  The former director of Google's philanthropy division and current Chairman of the Board of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, Dr. Brilliant was instrumental in the World Health Organization’s successful mission to eradicate Smallpox.  He was recognized for his remarkable achievements in the TIME 100, with his story written by President Jimmy Carter who wrote that Dr. Brilliant’s “humanitarian spirit and grasp of science make him one of our leading social entrepreneurs.”

Dr. Brilliant also co-founded the Seva Foundation, a NGO responsible for restoring eyesight to 4 million blind people worldwide, including the subjects of OPEN YOUR EYES, by reducing the cost of cataract surgery from $500 to just $3.

The film features the original song "Open Your Eyes", composed by Pakistani rock star Salman Ahmad and featuring vocals from iconic musician and humanitarian Peter Gabriel.  Often referred to as the "Bono of Asia", Ahmad and his band Junoon have sold tens of millions of records worldwide.

OPEN YOUR EYES (HBO, Monday, July 18) is a heartfelt and uplifting documentary following the extraordinary journey of Manisara and Durga, an elderly couple in a remote mountain village in Nepal.   Living for decades under the Himalayan sun, their eyes have slowly turned milky white with cataracts that have left them completely blind.  When a team of eye specialists combing the mountainside village presents an opportunity for a free surgery to restore their sight, the couple begins a life-changing journey down the mountain to see again.