D/deaf Shorts: My Eye Is My Ear
Saturday, 15 January 2022
Image: It's Nothing, Lian Meng Rose, Rebecca King, 2021
Our yearly programme exploring the multitude of d/Deaf experiences returns, guest programmed by multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker Rinkoo Barpaga. These beautiful, innovative films explore the personal letters of Beethoven as interpreted by a deaf Black artist, a group of mates deciding to claim their own space, and the exclusion of d/Deaf people from last year’s government COVID briefings. There will be full access provision for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences at this screening, including captions and BSL with English interpretation.
Curated by Rinkoo Barpaga
Old Mother Tongue
Mark Trifunovic
28'
2021
Canada
A Deaf man grapples with his sense of identity in a hearing world and is taken on a fabulistic journey through time to one of the most significant events in Deaf history: the Milan Conference on the Education of the Deaf 1880, when sign language was banned from use in education.
Silence
Brwa Vahabpour
15'
2021
Norway
Nine-year-old Bahar recently lost her ability to hear. Due to lack of resources in the village, she is omitted from school. This feeling of alienation is the beginning of a series of desperate acts culminating in an attempt to cure herself.
Feeling Through
Doug Roland
18'
2021
United States
Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.
We're Too Good For This
Missy Malek
11'
2021
United Kingdom
Stereotypes are overturned in this story of physical disability, where a group of friends on a council estate find a way to assert their independence using the gifts others see as flaws.
Her My Voice
Aneel Ahmad
12'
2021
United Kingdom
A short documentary/drama based in the little known world of a dancing woman. Set in the vibrant city of Lahore "Her My Voice" tells the emotional story of Komal. A deaf mute transsexual, as she reconnects with her father after he suddenly falls ill leading to a stroke.
send back the echo
Jasmin Kent Rodgman
8'
2021
United Kingdom
“I beg of you to keep the matter of my deafness a profound secret to be confided to nobody, no matter whom…" - Ludwig van Beethoven
'send back the echo' is not an homage to the myth or legend of Beethoven. It is a journey inspired by a deaf musician. The composer's personal letters and memoirs reveal a human story of intense passion, fear and joy as he reconciled solitude and deafness with a deep love of nature and music.
These confessions, interpreted and narrated entirely in British Sign Language by deaf actor Vilma Jackson, are accompanied by music from the film’s director & composer, Jasmin Kent Rodgman. 'send back the echo' invites a moment of reflection on the otherness faced by the deaf community and by people of colour within music, culture and the arts.
It's Nothing
Lian Meng Rose, Rebecca King
1'
2021
United Kingdom
Two women, one deaf, one hearing, have a brief exchange.
Signs and Gestures
Itandehui Jansen
12'
2021
United Kingdom
Florist Clara relies on smell, touch and sound. She has recently been chatting with Art student Simon through a dating app. They arrange to meet in person. However, during their first date an unexpected situation arises.
My Darling Christopher
Clare-Louise English
14'
2021
United Kingdom
MY DARLING CHRISTOPHER tells the true story of Clive who contracted Meningitis and lost both his sight and his hearing during the outbreak of the Second World War. Clive is now 15 years old and attending Goring School, having been evacuated from Margate School for the Deaf. Clive’s father, away serving in the Navy, receives a heartfelt letter from his wife, Dorothy. As Christopher reads the letter English, BSL and Visual Vernacular interweave to tell the shocking story of a war plane crashing to the ground meters away from Clive’s classroom.