Deaf

With the arrival of their first child, a deeply-in-love couple – one deaf, one hearing – encounter unexpected roadblocks in their relationship. Ángela is a successful potter living and working in an idyllic country town in the lush rural southern Spanish region of Murcia. She and her besotted partner, Héctor, are excitedly expecting their first baby, brushing off her overbearing parents’ concerns over how her deafness will impact the happy situation. Ángela feels confident that Héctor has her back, and soon enough, they’re overjoyed to welcome a daughter, Ona, into their family. But when their differing experience of the world – Ona, like Héctor, is hearing – and its impacts on their respective parenting approaches begins to drive a wedge between the couple, Ángela becomes increasingly dejected. Can their bond survive? Expanding on her 2021 short of the same name, Eva Libertad’s emotionally charged feature once again stars her sister, Miram Garlo, who is deaf in real life. Fresh from this year’s Berlinale, where it went on to win two awards, Deaf delivers a refreshingly honest look at motherhood and relationships, and the frustrations involved in moving through a world that, for the most part, hasn’t been designed to accommodate you. “Immersive and profoundly effective filmmaking … The film doesn’t hold back from the harsh truths that so many deaf people face.” – Journey Into Cinema