All movies are subtitled for ALL to enjoy! :-)
http://www.deafspotlight.com/sdff
Can you remember the last time you watched a film featuring deaf actors? Can you name a film director who is deaf? Or a film in which deaf culture figures prominently?
Probably not. But the Seattle Deaf Film Festival http://www.deafspotlight.com/SDFF/ , to be held at the UW from March 30 through April 1, hopes to change that.
The festival—the first of its kind in the Northwest—is presented by Deaf
Spotlight, a non-profit that focuses on the culture and creativity of the
deaf community. The event is sponsored by the UW’s ASL (American Sign Language) and Deaf Studies Program https://catalyst.uw.edu/workspace/lforshay/10514/53329 ,
part of the Department of Linguistics.
[image: poster for Seattle Deaf Film Festival]
“Our program aims to create awareness of deaf culture,” says Lance Forshay, lecturer and coordinator of the ASL and Deaf Studies Program. “This
festival is an opportunity to do that. The event is independent of the ASL
program, but by hosting we show our support.”
Audiences can expect to see films created by, for, or about the deaf
community, in genres ranging from documentary to drama to comedy to
animation. Feature films and shorts have been submitted from the U.S.,
England, France, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, South Africa, and
Mexico. All films will have subtitles, including subtitled translations
when the actors sign rather than speak. “That’s for the sign language
impaired,” jokes Forshay.
Rob Roth, chair of Deaf Spotlight’s board and a Computer Science and
Engineering staffer at the UW, has been involved in every aspect of the
festival, including reviewing more than 70 film submissions. As part of a
seven-member committee, he is selecting the films for the three-day event.
“We’re considering the deaf culture aspect of the film—the use of deaf
actors, a deaf storyline—but also looking at technical aspects and the
quality of the script, taking into account what would interest audiences.”
Films selected so far range from an unsettling South Korean drama about
abuse to a lighthearted animated film about three deaf mice.
Forshay anticipates that many of his ASL students, required to have five or
more hours of contact with the deaf community each quarter, will fulfill
that requirement by attending the festival. And if they bring their non-ASL
friends along? All the better, says Forshay. “Having that sort of exposure
is very valuable,” he says. “Films are powerful. We might be able to open people’s eyes a bit.”
Roth agrees, offering the example of a festival film about a deaf Holocaust
survivor. “People don’t think about deaf people surviving the Holocaust,”
he says. “Now they will.” Adds Forshay, “There are many gaping holes like
that in our study of history and our study of the world. We’d like to fill
in some of those gaps where deaf people have not been included.”
Audiences can expect to see films created by, for, or about
the deaf community, in genres ranging from documentary
to drama to comedy to animation.
RantWoman has only small comments:
RantWoman is almost totally sign-language-impaired. RantWoman is also subtitle-impairred. Plus RantWoman finds the phrase "this will open people's eyes" highly amusing.
On the bright side if RantWoman brings along a sighted guide for live video description, PERHAPS odds are less thatpeople sitting next to her will be bothered. Word!
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