By Tyler Wright
Non-profit deaf and hard of hearing support organisation Soundfair is looking forward to bringing its ‘Unheard Stories’ film festival to Belgrave’s Cameo Cinemas on Thursday 4 August following its resounding success across Australia.
The festival, showcasing the stories of some of the one in six Australians with lived experience of hearing loss, will screen four films produced and directed by filmmakers in the Deaf or Hard of Hearing community.
The four documentaries; ‘Hear Me Out’,’ Deafying Gravity’, ‘Amplify This!’ and ‘We Hear You’ will run for viewers from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on the day.
The festival is also fully accessible, with captions embedded throughout all the films.
“It’s a fully inclusive experience for anyone who has any kind of hearing condition or sensory loss, [and] to be honest, everyone can benefit from captions,” Soundfair CEO Caitlin Barr said.
“Some of the storytellers use Auslan to communicate, and so that’s captioned as well,” Ms Barr said.
Anyone can access the stories, no matter their background. It’s a good example of how movies should be; fully accessible.”
The ‘Unheard Stories’ film festival has already been screened across the country in places including the Blue Mountains and the Macquarie Hearing Hub in Sydney.
The most recent screening was held at the Deaf Hub Bendigo on 30 June and was met with a sellout crowd.
“What’s really interesting is that the common message between them is it doesn’t matter how you hear or how you communicate, the barriers are the same. And the barriers actually come from other people and come from society,” Ms Barr said.
“So the way we set up our restaurants, or the way we set up our workplaces, are actually the things that cause a disability for people. It’s not actually the hearing itself, [and] It’s not always the individuals’ problem to solve.
“We, as a society, all have a role to play in minimizing hearing disabilities.”
Sydney-based filmmaker Samuel Martin directed and was co-screenwriter for the 14 minute long documentary ‘Deafying Gravity’.
Samuel’s film focuses on Deaf queer aerial performer Katia Schwartz, who reflects on life, identity and her career in the documentary.
“I would describe Deafying Gravity as a powerful rejection of ableism and a powerful embrace of pride in identity. Our film is strong, empowering, and sexy yet personal, intimate, and vulnerable at the same time. It’s a story that at its core, we all can relate to. We all seek for belonging, acceptance and to discover our true selves,” Samuel said.
‘Deafying Gravity’ was funded through the Screenability Filmmakers Fund Program under Create NSW, and was the first time Samuel had seen a film made entirely in Australian sign language, or Auslan.
“I learnt that despite our crew being a mix of hearing and Deaf people, we managed to create an accessible and wonderful bilingual environment in such a short time,” Samuel said.
“A favourite memory of mine was when when we wrapped, the 1st AD went up to me and signed “Stop talking. Start packing!”. It was a hilariously surreal moment because I had never seen this person sign before yet they somehow picked up a few important signs. It was surreal because we were conversing in our own way.”
Emerald and Tecoma-based audiology clinic AudioLogic, and community service ‘Auslan Pay it Forward’ have sponsored the Unheard Stories film festival in Belgrave and two more screenings in Wangaratta and Perth are also lined up for August.
“It continues on and continues to have the same impact on people who attend, even if you’ve never even thought about deafness or hearing loss, you will still absolutely be moved and you’ll learn something to take away,” Ms Barr said.
Samuel said the festival is a reminder of how diverse and beautiful the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community is.
“It is also a reminder that our broader community does have some division. We have all grown up being told by society what is best for us and we all have different experiences which we bring to our community. Diversity is beauty, power and strength. I hope that seeing the perspectives of many different Deaf/HoH people’s lives and experiences teaches us that at the end of the day we are more similar than we are apart,” he said.
Tickets to the Unheard Stories film festival are $22 and can be purchased via this link https://events.humanitix.com/unheard-stories-film-festival-belgrave.
Funds raised will go directly towards promoting more diversity through Soundfair’s storyelling projects and the DGR charity’s funded hearing bank program, which supplies free hearing aids and hearing support to those who can not afford it.
