Paths of Deafhood

Paths of Deafhood

Layovers

Sometimes, it is worthwhile to get off the path and stopover in order to dig deeper and reflect. Once every two months, we call upon individuals whose thoughts, approaches, and methods we admire to select five films around a subject of their choice. You want to participate? Feel free to contact us at info@tenk.ca

 

 

As a hearing person, when I began studying LSQ, Quebec's sign language, I quickly realized that I knew very little about Deaf culture and that very rarely had I been exposed to it. On the occasion of International Sign Language Day, marked on September 23rd of every year since 2018, I reflected on this stopover with the intention of giving more visibility to Deaf communities, still kept in the shadows by the mass media - and cinema is no exception. The year 2022 started off with a fresh breeze, thanks to the Oscar for Best Picture awarded to a feature film starring Deaf actors (*CODA&). However, the celebrations surrounding this cinematic event lead me to question myself. What representations of Deaf communities are being made in mainstream culture? Can I name other titles that feature Deaf people? Will such success allow Deaf artists to find a place on the screen?

Thanks to this documentary stopover, I have the desire to put forward the plurality of Deaf experiences and to give a platform to the Deaf culture which is still too often reduced to silence, but which nevertheless has so many things to reveal and to claim. Far from any form of miserabilism, this program wishes to celebrate the richness, diversity and struggles that characterize this unique culture.

In the course of my research, I have come across the writings of Deaf authors, thus discovering a host of notions and nuances specific to their community.

The films




Past layovers

Here you can find the list of archived films no longer in our active regular programming. Some of them are still available to rental for a supplementary 3$ per film.