Miss-Delectable
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http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/060416deaffilms.shtml
In the 2003 comedy "No Talking Allowed," an aspiring model frets to her friends that being deaf will get in the way of her landing jobs.
Stop thinking like that, say her friends, who urge her to press on. It's a scene of pride and optimism. And according to Brenda Schertz, coordinator of the Maine Deaf Film & Video Festival, held Saturday, it's something that filmgoers might not have seen as recently as a decade ago.
The film was directed by a deaf person - part of a growing cadre of deaf and hard-of-hearing filmmakers around the country - and shows a unique perspective that filmmakers who can hear might not be able to capture.
"The film shows that there are still some people with defeatist attitudes," said Schertz, who teaches American Sign Language at the University of Southern Maine, the site of the film festival. "But the majority of deaf people are very empowered," she said, citing disability-rights laws and technology such as video-relay interpreting that allows better communication with the hearing world.
The festival is in its fourth year. In response to audience demand, it features more works from deaf filmmakers than ever before - all but two of the 20 films.
Schertz said the goal is that all offerings come from deaf filmmakers. "That is the vision, the golden vision. Slowly, we're getting there."
Saturday's offerings featured all genres - romance, comedy, documentary, animation, drama - from United Kingdom, France, Japan, the United States and Australia.
To find the films to show, the festival's committee combs the Internet and other film festivals for the deaf, such as the largest one, in Rochester, N.Y.
Pinky Aiello, a professional juggler and actor from Portland, Ore., who is deaf, premiered her short film "Pinky Tells the Real Story" on Saturday. She explores the world of video relay interpreting from the perspectives of the deaf person and the interpreter.
Because the deaf filmmaking community is so young, and film festivals rare, moviemakers don't have a chance to meet one another. Aiello said she was delighted to have the chance to be exposed to others' work.
"I'm thrilled to see the technique, the skill," Aiello said.
It was the second year in which Jennifer Welch, a student at USM and film committe member, attended. Welch liked how deaf people in the film festival creations were central characters living everyday lives. She could also relate to characters who felt excluded from the hearing world.
"People will be talking and not involving me in a conversation," Welch said. "When I ask them, they say 'it's not important' and don't give me an explanation."
It was a very different situation Saturday in the Luther Bonney Auditorium, where many of the films shown needed no audio because characters were signing. Hearing filmgoers had to rely on subtitles or interpreters speaking the roles of actors on the screen.
In the 2003 comedy "No Talking Allowed," an aspiring model frets to her friends that being deaf will get in the way of her landing jobs.
Stop thinking like that, say her friends, who urge her to press on. It's a scene of pride and optimism. And according to Brenda Schertz, coordinator of the Maine Deaf Film & Video Festival, held Saturday, it's something that filmgoers might not have seen as recently as a decade ago.
The film was directed by a deaf person - part of a growing cadre of deaf and hard-of-hearing filmmakers around the country - and shows a unique perspective that filmmakers who can hear might not be able to capture.
"The film shows that there are still some people with defeatist attitudes," said Schertz, who teaches American Sign Language at the University of Southern Maine, the site of the film festival. "But the majority of deaf people are very empowered," she said, citing disability-rights laws and technology such as video-relay interpreting that allows better communication with the hearing world.
The festival is in its fourth year. In response to audience demand, it features more works from deaf filmmakers than ever before - all but two of the 20 films.
Schertz said the goal is that all offerings come from deaf filmmakers. "That is the vision, the golden vision. Slowly, we're getting there."
Saturday's offerings featured all genres - romance, comedy, documentary, animation, drama - from United Kingdom, France, Japan, the United States and Australia.
To find the films to show, the festival's committee combs the Internet and other film festivals for the deaf, such as the largest one, in Rochester, N.Y.
Pinky Aiello, a professional juggler and actor from Portland, Ore., who is deaf, premiered her short film "Pinky Tells the Real Story" on Saturday. She explores the world of video relay interpreting from the perspectives of the deaf person and the interpreter.
Because the deaf filmmaking community is so young, and film festivals rare, moviemakers don't have a chance to meet one another. Aiello said she was delighted to have the chance to be exposed to others' work.
"I'm thrilled to see the technique, the skill," Aiello said.
It was the second year in which Jennifer Welch, a student at USM and film committe member, attended. Welch liked how deaf people in the film festival creations were central characters living everyday lives. She could also relate to characters who felt excluded from the hearing world.
"People will be talking and not involving me in a conversation," Welch said. "When I ask them, they say 'it's not important' and don't give me an explanation."
It was a very different situation Saturday in the Luther Bonney Auditorium, where many of the films shown needed no audio because characters were signing. Hearing filmgoers had to rely on subtitles or interpreters speaking the roles of actors on the screen.