The Sound of Silence
I just became aware of From Silence to Sound, a documentary that tells the story of the first recipient of a bilateral cochlear implant in Oklahoma. The film is slated to play at the New York International Film Festival on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, and because of that, I received a press release.
It seems like an interesting film, so I thought I'd pass along some excerpts from the release:
"Director Chase Matthews offers this moving documentary about Justin Garrett, a completely deaf young man who, in 2006, agreed to undergo radical cochlear implant surgery that could possibly make him hear for the first time. Matthews follows Justin as he prepares for, submits to and recovers from the high-stakes surgery. Success will reverse Justin's condition, but failure will irrevocably destine him to a lifetime of total silence."
"Producer Jenine Mayring comments, "One of my goals for this project was to subtitle the film in English, thereby making it accessible to deaf audiences worldwide." Mayring is a former American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and instructor whose credits as an ASL consultant include the hit TV shows ER and nip/tuck."
The film, which also delves into the affects his hearing problem had on his mother, father and wife, as well as his relationships with each of them, has actually been making the festival rounds for a few years. Tulsa World published a great article on the Garret and the film in April.
It's also worth pointing out that Garret discussed his desire to function as part of the hearing world and the hearing impaired world in an article in the Park Labrea News/Beverly Press.
"I have been involved a lot with the hearing world, but I try to remind myself that I came from the deaf community. I want to show the deaf community there is a lot out there they can do...I still take part in deaf activism, deaf awareness week and things like that."
The trailer for the film can be found at its official Web site, which also offers the film for purchase on DVD.