coming home | PEOPLE OF TH HandEYE -…first, last, and all the time”

Heye all –

been mighty busy but wanted to finish up some of my thoughts on the Deaf Rochester Film Festival 2011(see part 1)

just a quick note so note this is not a comprehensive review of the fest.

The Brit films rock:

50/50 by David Ellington is a really cute and funny comedy about a Deaf / Hearing friendship where the Hearing buddy comes up with a bunch of schemes for them to earn money – the final one being to use the Deaf bloke’s photographic memory to present him as a psychic.

Films by Louis Neethling (originally from South Africa and now living in the UK):

Coming Home by Louis Neethling is a beautifully made film – the cinematography, use of mirrors and windows, framing, etc all good. The plot line is strong with twists and emotions.

Departure Lounge by Louis Neethling is another drama by this director that has a strong plot line and is well acted and performed. My favorite line in the film is how when all the angels greet you in heaven, they will ask where you are from. Even the afterlife is Deaf-centered in this flick.

http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/100974172

Fairytale of London Town by Louis Neethling is a comedy that follows three Deaf women as they unite to try to figure out how to overcome their individual experiences with being at the mercy of folks from the Dominant culture. Its cute and clever and fast paced.

A very popular film by Neethling that didnt screen at DRFF 2011 but has been WELL circulated on the world wide web is:

Coming Out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ai5IVfFdE

by Louis Neethling and written by Charlie Swinbourne (Swinbourne made the popular Four Deaf Yorkshire Men). Coming out is clever and cute with a cool twist.

Was thrilled to meet Louis at DRFF 2011 as a few years ago one of my students had interviewed him and done a powerpoint presentation about him. I really appreciate when filmmakers, artists, scriptwriters, etc are willing to invest in our youth and share their wisdom and experiences. I could tell from everything Louis had shared with my student that he was a grand guy. Seeing him at DRFF 2011 affirmed that – humble, hard working, caring, and visionary. Looking forward to seeing his future works.

I once asked Dr. Paddy Ladd why so many good short Deaf films come out of UK and he speculated that perhaps since the UK had long had a TV channel of Deaf programming the youth of the country had been regularly exposed to the potential of their own storylines, experiences and languages up on the screen as opposed to the US where we invest a great deal in advocating for English captions and little to no advocacy in a Deaf ASL channel or programming.

You can see a description of all the films at DRFF 2011 at:

http://www.deafrochesterfilmfestival.org/?page_id=407

Upcoming Deaf Film Festivals:

Maine Deaf Film Festival (this weekend) (US)

http://mainedeaffilmfest.com/

Toronto International Deaf Film & Arts Festival 2011 (TIDFAF) (Candad)

http://www.tidfaf.ca/

Deaf in the Picture (Holland)

http://www.deafinthepicture.nl/

Deaffest (UK)

http://deaffest.co.uk/

Festival Clin D’Ceil (France)