Awards Artist, Joe Weaver
The talented Deaf artist and sculptor who will be making the award pieces for this year’s 4th Film Gala Awards is second year BA (Hons) Applied Arts student at Wolverhampton University, Joe Weaver.
Deaffest Coordinator Simon Herdman said “We always look out for local Deaf talent and when we heard Joe was studying Applied Arts at the University we approached him to design and make this year’s trophies.”
Joe will be making seven pieces in glass for each of this year’s award categories. Zebra Uno’s media team have filmed Joe at work, so visitors to Deaffest will be able to witness the creative process and the different stages involved in the making of the pieces. The short film will be shown alongside a display cabinet containing one of Joe’s trophies at Deaffest.
Joe said: “I thought it was a fantastic opportunity for me to show my own work and my knowledge in Art to prove to everyone what I can achieve. It was a risk, but one worth taking because it will give me a good opportunity to launch my career in Art. Also I feel really privileged to be involved in Deaffest and to be creating the awards in glass which is my specialist area of expertise”.
In recognition of Joe’s hard work and dedication Deaffest has asked him to present one of the awards himself, that of Best Actress, at the Gala Awards Ceremony at on Saturday evening 18th May.
This year at Deaffest, we are delighted to announce we will be having an exclusive special guest attending the festival weekend! The guest will present the award to the winner of the Young Deaffest 2013 film competition at around mid day on Saturday 18th May and the coveted Best British Film Award to the winner at the finale of the 4th Film Gala Awards ceremony on Saturday evening!
Rachel Shenton is a British actress known for her role in Waterloo Road and as fan favourite Mitzeee in popular Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Rachel was born in 1986 in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire where she grew up with her family. Rachel’s acting career began with a number of small recurring roles in television series such as Holby City and Waterloo Road which led her to larger parts in Nickelodeon’s series Genie in the House and Five’s Sophia’s Diary. When Rachel was 11 her father sadly became deaf during chemotherapy treatment for cancer which inspired Rachel to learn British Sign Language, and she utilised this skill by working for her local charity Deaflinks as a volunteer in between acting jobs.
In 2010 Rachel landed the role as Mitzeee Miniever, a wannabe glamour model, in hit channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. After two amazing years Rachel made the decision to leave to show to pursue opportunities that broaden her craft and introduce her to new audiences. Rachel is currently in training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) a charity whom she has a very close connection to after donating her free time running work-shops, translating and campaigning for them.
There will be also be a chance to put your questions to Rachel, as there will be a 15 minute Q&A session with Rachel about her acting career, her huge and significant contributions to the Deaf community, and her future aspirations!
Deaffest is mourning the loss of our wonderful patron Richard Griffiths, who sadly died aged 65 last Thursday 28th March, following complications after heart surgery. We offer our condolences to his family.
The award winning actor famous for many roles on stage and screen including Harry Potter and Withnail & I kindly consented to become Deaffest’s patron last year. In a beautifully hand written letter he told us he was “flattered to be invited to be a patron”. Richard went on to say that “The idea of encouraging Deaf people to get involved in making films, and here I don’t care how big or small the scale of the product, strikes me as being excellent”. Richard felt that “the visual attention of the camera’s eye” would be “more sensitive and striking” in films made by Deaf film makers.
Richard agreed to an exclusive interview for Zebra Uno in July last year at London’s Savoy Theatre, where he discussed his childhood growing up with Deaf parents and offered advice for Deaf film makers and actors. During the interview Richard surprised us by signing throughout, making it an unforgettable experience for all of us present and giving a unique perspective on this thoughtful and multi talented man.
The Richard Griffiths interview will be premiered at Deaffest on Friday evening 17th May 2013 at Light House Wolverhampton.
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