Movies about Deafness
CODA
CODA is a 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film that follows a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA for short). the story is the tale of Ruby Rossi as the only hearing member of her family who are fishermen in New England. Ruby’s parents and only brother are all culturally deaf. Ruby aspires to be a professional singer and break away from the fishing business but the family is dependent upon her translation skills for communicating with the hearing world. CODA had its world premiere on January 28, 2021 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. CODA, is an English-language remake of the French-language film La Famille Bélier, which was released in 2014 and was successful at the French box office. Apple acquired distribution rights to CODA for a festival-record $25 million. The film was released in theaters and through the Apple TV+ streaming service in August, 2021. CODA won numerous accolades. At the 94th Academy Awards, the film won all three of its nominations – Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Hear and Now
Hear and Now is a 2007 documentary film by Irene Taylor Brodsky, winning awards in 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival and the Heartland Film Festival; and garnering a Peabody Award in 2008. The filmmaker's parents were both born deaf; and the couple raised children who were not deaf. Paul Taylor and his wife Sally Taylor were in their 60s when they both decided to have cochlear implant surgery, which could permit them to hear for the first time.[3] The documentary follows what turns out to be a complicated journey from the comfortable world of silence to a profoundly challenging world of sounds and language. The couple's filmmaker daughter chronicled these surgeries and the aftermath. The film shows some of the short-term consequences, including both expected and unexpected adjustments each would need to make. The camera records quite different reactions as the couple struggles to adjust after living deaf for a lifetime. The film documents cochlear implant surgery in an intimate family setting rather than the larger context of the Deaf community.
Moonlight Sonata – Deafness in Three Movements
In Moonlight Sonata, Irene Taylor Brodsky follows her first feature film, Hear and Now, by documenting an intergenerational of living with deafness. Brodsky’s son, Jonas, began losing his hearing as a baby and undergoes cochlear-implant surgery as a toddler. At 11 years of age, Jonas has adjusted to a world with sound and is learning to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Brodsky’s congenitally deaf parents also have cochlear implants during their med-sixties as detailed in Hear and Now, but unlike Jonas, the majority of their lives were shaped by silence. Archival footage portrays Jonas’s hearing transformation with his new cochlear implants. Brodsky explores the meaning of deafness, loss, and the power of silence as her son discovers his unique voice and her parents confront a new chapter of their lives.
The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker is a 1962 American biographical film about Anne Sullivan, tutor to Helen Keller, Young Helen Keller (Patty Duke), blind and deaf since infancy due to a severe case of scarlet fever, is frustrated by her inability to communicate and subject to frequent violent and uncontrollable outbursts. Unable to deal with her, her terrified and helpless parents contact the Perkins School for the Blind for assistance. In response, they send Anne Sullivan (Anne Bancroft), a former student, to the Keller home as a tutor. A battle of wills ensues as Anne breaks down Helen's walls of silence and darkness through persistence, love, and sheer stubbornness. In the midst of the battle, Anne ultimately teaches Helen to make a connection between her hand signs and the objects in Helen's world for which they stand.
Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film based on a 1979 play of the same name. It stars William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, and Philip Bosco. The film's narrative follows two employees at a school for the deaf; a deaf custodian and a hearing speech teacher, whose conflicting ideologies on speech and deafness create tension and discord in their developing romantic relationship. It received five nominations at the 59th Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Actor (for Hurt), Best romantic relationship Supporting Actress (for Laurie), Best Adapted Screenplay, with Matlin winning Best Actress, at age 21 becoming the youngest winner in the category as well as the only deaf winner in Oscar history.
The Silent Child
The Silent Child is a British sign language short film released in 2017. It was written by and stars Rachel Shenton. It tells the story of Libby, a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl, who lives a silent life until a social worker teaches her how to communicate through sign language.[2] The film won the Oscar for Live Action Short Film at the 90th Academy Awards.[3] The film's television debut was on BBC One to an estimated audience of 3.6 million. The film was based on Shenton's own experiences as the child of a parent who became deaf. The film features profoundly deaf six-year-old first-time actor Maisie Sly as the titular child. British Sign Language (BSL) is used in the film.
Sweet Nothing in My Ear
Sweet Nothing in My Ear is a 2008 American made-for-television drama film directed by Joseph Sargent and is based on a 1998 play of the same name by Stephen Sachs, who also wrote the teleplay. It stars Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin as the parents of a Deaf child, played by Noah Valencia, who struggle with deciding to give their child a cochlear implant that will allow him to hear again. The film premiered on CBS as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation on April 20, 2008. Dan and Laura Miller (Daniels, Matlin) have been married for nine years, are separated, and in a custody dispute over their deaf son, Adam (Valencia). Their close relationship began to change when Adam loses his hearing at the age of four, the condition was initially accepted as Laura is deaf since her youth. Adam turns eight years old and he is injured when Dan is unable to warn him of oncoming danger. Dan begins to explore the idea of cochlear implants. The issue of Deaf Pride and Deaf culture weighs in on the decision making process.