See what I'm saying

The Other Film Festival is so named not to indicate difference from Melbourne International Film Festival, but because it is a celebration of “Otherness”. All the films brought to Melbourne Museum for The Other Film Festival are new works by, with and about people with a disability. In his program pre-amble, Festival Director Rick Randall likens the biennial festival to the iceberg that sunk the Titanic: it’s “the visible tip of something far greater” – the festival is opening up a discussion about what it’s like to live with a disability. Shining a spotlight on people with disabilities through the creative medium of film allows for otherwise unheard stories to be told, stereotypes challenged, and barriers between the disabled and non-disabled communities broken down.

See What I’m Saying, directed by Hilari Scarl, follows four Deaf performers as they lurch from struggle to triumph and back, performing for both Deaf and hearing audiences. Actor and mime artist Robert is not only Deaf but HIV positive, and surviving on limited work opportunities proves difficult. Robert is such a charismatic and animated person, it is devastating to follow his story, but ultimately his mental strength proves to be something quite amazing. Beethoven’s Nightmare are the world’s only Deaf band, now in their 50s, reuniting for one last show. They pull out all the stops – special effects, signing dancers, and a young lead singer in angel’s wings, TL Forsberg. TL spends most of the film complaining that she is categorised as “not Deaf enough”, and therefore doesn’t fit into any community, but maybe if she spent less time acting like a diva people would want her in their crew. Contrasting TL’s brattish behaviour is the instantly lovable comic CJ, whose sense of community saves his battered ego, as a Deaf performer struggling to find fame in the hearing world.

This film is as concerned with integration as it is with telling these individual stories. The Deaf community is isolated, not by prejudice, but by ignorance. Robert’s story of his mother refusing to learn to sign – actively building a brick wall between herself and her son – is pitiful, and the agonising frustration that punctuates Robert’s tale indicative of the frustrations that face Deaf people forced to adapt to a hearing world. The film is laced with these moments that expose the obstacles of “living Deaf”: instructions for airport pick-up missed because their given over a loudspeaker; poor signing leading to misunderstandings and confusion; “nodding your head like a fool” to spoken conversations.

As a hearing person, I found the world seen from a Deaf person’s perspective incredibly fascinating. The abstract, emotive and highly physical nature of true sign language, for example, is like a dance. Robert tells us Deaf people have “eyes like superman”, for whom ‘find-it’ games like Where’s Wally are just too easy. As I watched, I flicked through the “Deaf People I Have Known” department in my memory, and came up with one name: Linda the Librarian from Sesame Street. For me (and I’ll assume a lot of other hearing people) Deafness is on the periphery, not actively blocked out, but certainly unnoticed. In a “kids say the darndest things” moment towards the end of the film, a hearing child watches his Deaf father and a friend discussing (in sign) the hidden nature of the Deaf community, a toddler interrupts with the declaration “Deaf people can’t be invisible!” Well said, kid. Well said.

Showing as part of The Other Film Festival, 25/08/2010-29/08/2010:

Director Hilari Scarl and comedian CJ are guests of the festival. They will speak following the screening on 27/08/2010, 8pm.