Summary: Nearly half-a-million blind people live in Turkey. While attitudes are gradually changing in Turkey, awareness of blindness tends to lag behind awareness and understanding of disability in some other parts of the world. In Seeing Isn't Everything four blind people living in Istanbul talk about how they are all too often defined through their disability and want to challenge social perceptions about what it means to live without sight. One of them is Burcak Souoglu who lost her sight aged four. She is now a single mother after her husband left her with two children. She works on the switchboard at Marmara University. She lacks confidence out on the often frenetic streets of Istanbul - but as a devoted mother derives immense satisfaction from raising her two children. Burcak's younger sister, Gamze, has five percent of her sight. "I can distinguish big objects…and also the main colours… When you're a teenager you take your physical appearance very seriously…but you don't know what you look like," she says. Still Gamze, like the other three characters in this film, exudes positivity. "Gaining pleasure from something isn't always related to seeing. Seeing isn't everything." All four of them talk about their personal strategies for leading full lives and challenging perceptions about the blind, particularly in Turkey.
