And the nominations are…

The nominations for the Deaffest Film & TV Gala Awards are as follows:

Nominations for Best Drama

Stiletto
Dir. William Mager, UK, 2008, 16 mins 14secs
A Hitchcock blonde asks an artist to mind her handbag in a quiet bar. She disappears. Moments later the man receives a mysterious phone call. He must follow her instructions to the letter, or the bag will explode. It’s a simple matter of murder.

Deaf Avian Influenza
Dir. Jae-Hyun Park, South Korea, 2008, 28mins
A darkly comic film about the difficulties for Deaf people without fluent sign language skills.

Glee!
Dir. Jules Dameron, USA, 2009, 12 mins
With a mother for a mortician, this 8-year-old girl has never experienced a smile since birth. When she wishes upon a shooting star, happiness comes in the form of her worst phobia: an Italian singing clown.

The Compost
Dir. Brent Macpherson, New Zealand, 2009, 7mins 15secs
Matt (Brent Macpherson) dearly loves his garden and is a master in creating rich compost for his beloved plants. Bob (Daniel Hanks) treats Matt with disdain and has frequent outbursts without reason. What is the compost for? How much longer will Matt tolerate Bob’s unruly behaviour? A symbiotic relationship with dramatic consequences.

Nominations for Best Experimental Film

The Deaf Man
Dir. D J Kurs, USA, 2007, 9mins
In an era of technological improvements for deaf people, such as the cochlear implant, the destiny of the deaf is examined through one man’s experience.

Deprivation/stimulation
Dir. Adrean Mangiardi, USA, 2009, 8mins 20secs
This experimental film explores the interaction between a sensory-deprived subject and his sensory input. It relates Mabgiardi’s experiences using bilateral cochlear implants and his struggles to bridge his identity between ‘Deaf’ and ‘Hearing’.

I’m Deaf
Dir. Adrean Mangiardi, USA, 2009, 3mins 10 secs
A music video with animated text performed by Sean Forbes, co-founder of D-Pan (Deaf Performing Artist Nation), located in Ferndale, Michigan. The project began when director Adrean visited Sean for the weekend and they decided to have fun by shooting a music video. After just 2 nights of shooting Adrean returned to Chicago to finish editing the video and he tried watching it with and without his cochlear implants to test if he could follow the beats. Then he realized applying animated text would help people to follow the beats, so he added this to create the final version you see today.

Nominations for Best Factual Film

See Hear: The Deaf Brain
Dir. Sarah Tavner, UK, 2009, 29mins 4secs
A See Hear special looking at current research into whether the brain science of Deaf people differs from that of Hearing people. Experiments examine which neurological areas process speech recognition as opposed to gesture; other tests focus on sign rhymes, peripheral vision, vibration and memory.

Sound Waves
Dir. Sasha Andrews and Jeanne Guiraud, UK, 2008, 5min 46secs
A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted device which can make it possible for some profoundly Deaf people to ‘hear’ sound. Although it sounds like a miracle cure, the use of cochlear implants is controversial, particularly amongst the Deaf community. This film introduces two families, both with children who are Deaf. One has decided to have a cochlea implant for their son, the other has not – why?

Pulse – The Joy of Rhythm Is Within Us All
Dir. Riia Celen, Finland, 2009, 29mins
Each and everyone of us is part of the pulsating world, where an ever-present beat sets the pace. Although not always visible or audible, this rhythm can be used to form an all-encompassing impulse and power that supports our entire life. In the world of the Deaf people, rhythm is a sensitive subject, as it has been traditionally linked with hearing and music. However, an auditory experience of rhythm is not the only way to sense it. Rhythm can also be seen and felt. Rhythmical skill is the ability to sense temporal intervals.

The History of Irish Sign Language (Hands On)
Dir. Louis Neethling, Ireland, 2007, 25mins and 18secs
Programme one of a two-part special on the history of Irish Sign Language, presented by Sean Herlihy. In this programme, we track the development of Irish Sign Language from its origins up to the introduction of oralism.  We meet experts and historians and learn that, uniquely to Ireland, Gender division in the Deaf schools led to the language developing in such a way that male and female signs were, and in certain cases still are, radically different. We find out the huge impact oralism had on the language, how schools were divided into oral and signing classes and the attitude that exited towards ‘Deaf and Dumb’ pupils, who were hidden from the other students.

Nominations for Best TV Programme

Storytime
Dir. Bim Ajadi and Ted Evans, UK, 2009, 25mins 50 secs
Storytime is a wonderful presentation of two Little Tiger Press Children stories – Don’t Be Afraid, Little Ones and Mo’s Smelly Jumper in British Sign Language. Mo’s Smelly Jumper is about a little monkey who gets his Rainbow coloured jumper dirty and smelly by playing around in the mud! We join Mo on his adventure with his friends. Don’t Be Afraid, Little One is about the adventures of Amber and Kai, whose mother leaves them to fend for themselves during the night. Can they survive until Mother Tiger comes back with food? The programme also features ‘Jungle Friends’ where children give their feedback on how they enjoyed the stories.

See Hear Series 29 Programme 6
Dir. Jessie North and Karen Kirk, UK, 2009, 29mins 12secs
A magazine show for the BBC’S See Hear programme. The first item explores the impact of hearing loss on professional musicians – from a rapper, to a rocker, to a classical piccolo player. Memnos Costi looks at political correctness in BSL, and then he travels down to Cornwall, where he meets Deaf surf champion Harry Hilliar and then has a surf lesson taught in BSL before taking to the waves himself.

Sign Up!
Dir. Louis Neethling, Ireland, 2008, 29mins 51secs
Sign up! was an eight part adult literacy series aimed at the Irish Deaf Community, presented in Irish Sign Language. Not just about reading, writing and numbers, Sign Up! aimed to shed light on various topics from getting a mortgage, standing up for your rights, Irish politics and saving the planet. In this programme, Alvean attempts to find her way around the hospital and Sarah Jane tells us how to reduce, reuse and recycle! Kevin has an interesting grammar fact and Josephine has a story of Deaf success!

Wicked Series 2 Programme 1
Dir. Ramon Woolfe, UK, 2009, 27mins
In the first episode of the second series, we take the wicked campervan to Reading to meet Andrea Welland and Adam Walker. Both are avid bikers participating in the Deaf Bikers UK 10th Anniversary Rally. Their motto, “go anywhere, do anything” is certainly lived up to as they conquer the winding country lanes of Reading during the two hour rally, which the campervan follows. We follow Andrea’s journey throughout the day; a day filled with traditional biking competitions, a long rally down the country roads and the presentation of awards.

SignPost Episode 9
Dir. Assorted, Australia, 2009, 26mins 10secs
SignPost is an Australian magazine program made by and for the Deaf community in Australian Sign Language. The program has won several awards including ‘Program of the Year’ at the national community television awards, The Antennas. For the past three years a hard working team of volunteers have honed their skills, raised production values and pioneered the telling of Deaf stories on Australian television screens.