Reflections Through a DeafLens

Greetings,

Hideto Noritomi, a deaf painter from Japan is a professional artist. He is also the father of a deaf son and in his interview with a prominent Japan newspaper, he talks about how he incorporates the concept of sign language into his art. Some years ago, when I was invited to the Japan Deaf Arts and Film Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting him, he is just as he appears. When I saw this article, I knew I had to share it with you. To me, he symbolizes courage and vision.

Jane

Washington, DC. (November 24, 2008) Move over, Oscars, the WORLDEAF Cinema Awards are here.

Deaf cinema has made a profound impact on the lives of people around the world.  In recognition of excellence in deaf filmmaking, Gallaudet University will hold its first WORLDEAF Cinema Festival, November 4-7, 2009, in Washington, DC.  The four-day festival includes professional and student film competitions, with cash awards and a Hollywood-style awards show.  Other events will celebrate past and present accomplishments as well as promote interaction among industry representatives, filmmakers, and audience participants.

"The WORLDEAF Cinema Festival provides a way to celebrate the men and women, both deaf and hearing, who have captured in film the essence of the deaf experience, and I am thrilled to be a part of it," states Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin, the festival's honorary chair. Ms. Matlin will also receive the first WORLDEAF Cinema Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The festival will spotlight the international dimension of deaf cinema and the diversity of the world's deaf and hard of hearing communities.  The festival will also promote interaction between industry representatives and the festival registrants through keynote speakers, panel discussions, film screenings and community forums.  Dr. Robert Davila, President of Gallaudet University, states, "Gallaudet University is honored to serve as host to the WORLDEAF Cinema Festival and to share in the excitement and acclaim it will bring to this medium.  This festival will highlight the depth and breadth of the achievements that have been made in the industry, and the profound impact they have made on the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people throughout the world."

The four-day event will kick off on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, with a keynote speech by internationally renowned scholar Dr. Carol Padden, associate dean, University of California, San Diego.  During the following days, Thursday through Saturday, festival attendees can view classic and new productions in deaf cinema, browse industry-related exhibits, and learn about vlogging.  On Saturday, November 7, the festival will close with a red carpet, star-studded WORLDEAF Cinema Awards ceremony.  This glittering event will pay homage to cinematic innovators, past and present, with WORLDEAF Awards for Excellence, as well as outstanding achievement.

Conference organizers are soliciting new work from both professional and student filmmakers (entries must have been created after 2005).  Juried cash awards will be presented for outstanding feature, documentary, and short films. In keeping with the ground-breaking nature of the WORLDEAF Cinema Festival, submissions are also invited from creators of vlogs.

"We are excited to be able to stimulate new work by offering substantial cash awards," says Dr. Jane Norman, festival producer and director, and professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Gallaudet University. "The festival will also promote opportunities in deaf cinema because registrants will be able to network and pursue distribution opportunities in the mainstream film industry."

Projection launch date of the WORLDEAF Cinema Festival website: December 20, 2008

10/24/08

Greetings,

Not too long ago Kennedy Center's Opening Stages, an on-line newsletter by artists with disabilities asked if I would guest edit one of their issues. I thought long and hard and decided to give it a try. The newsletter was posted last week. In case the link doesn't work, you can Google "Opening Stages" and then go to issue No. 28. I am sincerely grateful to all of the artists that have graciously allowed me to interview them. There was simply not enough room to include all of the interviews I completed.  Each artist provided an unique point of view and I believe you will be moved and inspired by their courage and vision as they pursue their passion for their craft. Give your support to all artists, they have the ability, courage and passion to express what many of us feel but do not articulate. There's a lesson to be learned from each one of them. They all had dreams and they had the courage to pursue and achieve those dreams. 

Stay tuned,

Jane

Greetings,

Wolverhampton, England will be hosting it's tenth Deaf film festival, Deaffest during November 28-30, 2008. Do you think it's possible that England may have the longest continuously run Deaf film festival in the world? Do you have information that would confirm this? My friends and I were wondering when the concept of Deaf film festivals began? Did it start at Deaf clubs? I remember when I was in Reims for the Clin d'oeil (2005), I met an elderly Deaf man who told me about how he and his Deaf friends during 1940's watched films by Deaf filmmakers at clubs for the Deaf. Can anyone elaborate on this?

Meanwhile, I'm going to try to go to Wolverhampton. Will I see you there? Sure hope so!

Stay tuned,

Jane

Greetings,

Leon Lim is a 2004 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology. He was recently featured in the Korean Times. He is an incredibly gifted artist and if you ever have the good fortune to meet him and view his work, you'll see what I mean. He is charming and delightful. His works makes you stop and wonder.

I met him when he was an university student and have tried to follow his career, meeting him here and there at Deaf Film Festivals and art exhibits. I saw him again about a year ago at the VSA Renascence/07 art exhibit at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He was one of a handful of artists invited to participate.

When he is not travelling world wide, he works as a designer and photographer in New York City. If you are interested in investing in art, you might want to think about his work.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Stay tuned,

Jane

Greetings friends,

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been focusing on projects and now that I'm up for air, I thought I'd share some of the new additions to the blogroll.

Our friend, Bernard Bragg has just unveiled a beautiful site. A bit of news: he and Phyllis Frelich were just honored at the National Association of the Deaf Conference in New Orleans. They were each presented with an Lifetime Achievement Award by NAD.  You can see Bernard and Phyllis being individually interviewed by Amy Cohen Efron. Congratulations.

Rosa Lee, a multi media performer and her brother, Frank recently created a new web-zine, Kiss-Fist. It's fun, zany, thoughful and enjoyable. Take a look and add it to your bookmark list.

Amy Edwards, former Miss Deaf America has a fascinating site which showcases her talent and skill as a film animator. Makes you realize what it takes to make it in the field.

New Zealand photographer Robyn Carter, New Zealand specializes in macro photography. In addition to her blog, you can see her work on Deviantart.

There are many more to come and I'll try to post them as soon as I can.

Stay tuned,

Jane

Dear friends,

Eric Malzkuhn, beloved actor, playwright, poet, songwriter, teacher, photographer, sportswriter, Sign Master and gifted ASL and English translator died this morning at the age of 85.

Those of us who were fortunate to have been a friend of Eric, (affectionately known as Malz), were aware of being in the presence of a genius. His love of English and ASL knew no bounds, although he was not a native signer. He could switch easily from one to the other and do it on his hands, upside down, crosseyed and backwards. For those of us who worked with him in theatre and elsewhere, his sense of humor and use of ASL for the stage were legendary.

While attending Gallaudet as a college student he worked during college breaks at the Firestone plant during WWII. http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/worldaroundyou/WWII/malz-ben.html. Malz is the one on the left.

Malz was heavily involved with the Gallaudet Dramatics Club and starred in its production of Arsenic and Old Lace. He had sought permission to do the play from the producers of the same production which was on Broadway at that time. The producers turned him down saying that it wasn't permitted to allow an amatuer company to do the production while a professional company was performing the play on Broadway. Malz's response was typical, "We are the best sign language performers in the world." (Padden & Humphries (2005) Inside Deaf Culture, p. 104.) The troupe ended up presenting a one-night performance on Broadway (May 1942.) Malz played Boris Karloff's role and wore his shoes that night.

Malz was also a filmmaker during the 1940s. Check out Gallaudet University's  Video Library link to see him in his 1944 film, Setting Out with Leon Baker.

Among his many theatrical accomplishments, he was instrumental in the development of the early works presented by The National Theatre of the Deaf, and adapted several classics for sign language productions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. See http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=87290. Malz's creative translation into ASL of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky and other works was highly regarded. For Jabberwocky, Malz worked together with Joe Velez  (NTD Deaf actor) to make the poem as beautiful, funny and beyond concept as the English version. 

Malz enjoyed working with young people, and ran the theatre program at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf from 1973-1986. Upon his retirement from teaching, the MSSD auditorium on the Gallaudet University campus was named in his honor, "Theatre Malz."

Malz, who graduated from Gallaudet in 1943, received an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet University in 1993.

Malz frequently served as Sign Master at both Arena Stage and Kennedy Center. He was the translator and Sign Master for Arena's award-winning The Miracle Worker (2000).

Malz had the unique vision to take our language and make it come alive, not just for Deaf people, but for a wider audience of theatre-goers. His unparalleled gifts will not soon be forgotten.

Jane

Greetings,

This month's Zoom web TV edition showcases the recent Deaf in the Picture film festival in Amsterdam.

The latest edition features interviews with the festival organizer, Tony Bloem as well as some of the filmmakers.

For background information on the film festival, click on Deaf in Picture website.  

Zoom web TV is the brainchild of filmmaker Con Mehlum and Ipek Mehlum, both of Norway. Con is the filmmaker and Ipek does the interviews and manages the Zoom website. Many thanks to Con and Ipek. It is through Zoom that we're able to stay tuned!

Jane

Greetings,

Exciting news! Gallaudet University's Goya: en la Quinta del Sordo, a student theatre production, has been selected for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Willy Conley and Iosif Schneiderman (renowned Russian Deaf actor) co-wrote the play. Conley also directed the production. Ethan Sinnott designed the set.  To see a video clip of the production, click here.

Congratulations Willy, Iosif and Ethan and all those involved in making the production possible. Way to go!

Jane

Greetings,

In between teaching and working on projects, I try to stay abreast of new discoveries on the Internet. I'm particularly excited about my latest find, Tommy Motswai. I'm blown away by his use of color and ability to capture the complexities of a moment. I'm sure you'll agree.

While I'm constantly seeking Deaf artists' websites, I do stay faithful to those I'm familiar with. One in particular is Susan Dupor's website.  Over the years I've followed her work and find her view of the world exciting and relevant.  Artists have the power to see and articulate truth in ways that can either hit us right between the eyes or bring tranquility into our souls.

Raymond Luczak, another favorite of mine, is coming out with a new book, Men With Their Hands. Check out his blog; he's not only a prolific writer (I've lost count!) but a playwright and filmmaker. He also is a strong advocate of Deaf artists. Check out his website. Many of us regularly read his column on Deaf artists in SignNews.

The Deaf Film Festival in Wolverhampton, England just completed its ninth Deaf film and TV festival in Wolverhampton, England. Is this the oldest continuous Deaf Film Festival in the world? I've heard that European Deaf people had film festivals during the 1940's. Does anybody know if this is true? I'm sure many of us would love to know.

Charlie Swinbourne's Four Deaf Yorkshiremen (Grumpy Old Deafies, U.K.) was part of the Deaffest.  The film received a nomination for best British film. The winner was Coming Out, a comedy written by Charlie Swinbourne and directed by Louis Neethling. Congratulations Charlie and Louis!

Mark Wood's Wrong Game is currently touring the U.S. Catch the film when it comes to your town.

NTID/RIT recently announced its Deaf-Themed Literacy Contest. NTID/RIT is seeking literary works about the Deaf experience. Top winners and honorable mentions will have their works published in an NTID/RIT Literary Works website. Deadline for entries is March 1, 2008.

Marlee Matlin is currently committed to Sweet Nothing in My Ear, a CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie scheduled for release in April 2008. Kudos to Deaf Casting for their work in providing casting support.

There's much going on with Deaf artists and I'm having a good time trying to keep up! I hope you are too!

Stay tuned,

Jane