Reflections Through a DeafLens

Greetings,

Check out the Deaffest’s Deaf Filmmakers Forum! This forum, I believe, originates out of Wolverhampton, England, the site of one of the oldest Deaf film festivals in the world. This presents a wonderful opportunity for Deaf filmmakers to exchange information and support.I understand we have something similar here in the States. David Pierce, of Davideo Productions has formed an association of Deaf filmmakers. If you have information on this, please share so I can include this information in the blogroll.

Also Julia Dameron is working on a new film, To Sing or To Sign?. Check it out. Julia is a graduate student studying film at the University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television.

Jane

Jane introduces a new feature on her site.

Play Quicktime version

Transcript: Hello, it's great to have you here. From time to time, I'll be talking about perhaps a book, a film, a play, a piece of art work, perhaps a painting; maybe a person or a group; or maybe something from TV. I'm calling this category, "Jane's Picks." My first selection is CJ Jones. My reason for picking CJ is that he's been around for a while. He's a veteran actor having been with the National Theatre of the Deaf and the Children of a Lesser God touring company. He's performed with Deaf West and has appeared in television programs, such as Frasier, Sesame Street, and Rainbow's End, among others. He has also been in films. You can see all this on his website. it's easy to remember his URL, http://www.cjjoneslive.com/. CJ is really an interesting person. He's multi-talented, and is coordinating a huge upcoming event scheduled for October 25-27, 2007 here in the USA. The event is "The International Sign Language Theatre Festival" in California. For details, see CJ's website. Who is CJ? Surely you remember seeing him several months ago on PBS's documentary Through Deaf Eyes. That was CJ in the opening part of the film, riffing. He's a comedian who understands the power of laughter. He helps us to keep things in perspective. His wisdom of laughter feels good–he makes us feel good to laugh. It feels good to watch CJ. Check out CJ Jones at http://www.cjjoneslive.com/. Thank you, Jane

Jane discusses the blogroll on her site. She offers her blogroll as a resource–a place for people to find Deaf artists and also for anyone who wants to learn about the arts and entertainment industry.

Hello, glad you can join me. You know, it’s really astonishing; the Internet is a wonderful and amazing tool. In my search throughout the world, the Internet has yielded wonderful resources and helped me find links to Deaf artists. It has helped also in identifying resources which can support, encourage, and empower aspiring Deaf artists. This is one of the reasons for this blogroll. There are quite a few links here and they’re categorized into groups, e.g., actors, storytellers, poets; Deaf filmmakers; Deaf film festivals…you’ll note this particular category is rapidly growing as different parts of the world host Deaf film festivals.There are more categories: visual artists, writers, e-zines for the web. I have been trying to find information for “The Industry” category by including links to professional associations, organizations of different fields. Links on how you can market your film, how you can find the right kind of acting teacher.

I love libraries and they’re included. We are truly fortunate to have both Gallaudet University and The Rochester Institute of Technology libraries. They offer wonderful collections on Deaf Culture and Deaf Artists.There’s also a category for “Museums.” I have strong interest in this category and I’m hoping to see more links here. I also hope to see the Literary Society (LS) links grow. I think it’s an important one because Literary Society of the Deaf meetings were one way where Deaf people in the past shared information. I remember as a child, my parents took me to these meetings and I enjoyed watching current events; storytelling and debates.

We have several wonderful Deaf librarians who are promoting the resurrection of Literary Societies of the Deaf and I hope with time this category will grow.

I also have one category called “X Y and Z,” it’s all cool stuff.

I hope you will enjoy the blogroll. I’ve just scratched the surface, it’s a beginning. There are many more Deaf artists. I hope to dispel the myth that “Deaf actors are few and far in between,” and that there is a “scarcity of Deaf artists.” I am looking forward to dispelling the myth and if you can help, that would be cool.

Thank you.

Jane

Greetings, this is my first vlog and with your support, I look forward to many more to come.

Transcript:

Hello, I’m Jane. Welcome to Reflections Through a DeafLens. We will be focusing on art by Deaf people in different disciplines. I hope you will join me in future discussions. I’d like to make clear that the original idea of signing “R-e-f-l-e-c-t-i-o-n-s” this way is not mine. The concept belongs to NTD, The National Theatre of the Deaf. The company was established in 1967 and during the first year of their national tour, a group of friends and I went to see them perform. It was incredible, spectacular and stunning. There were four different productions and one of them was a collection of poems. Entering the stage, confident and assured, Richard Kendall, a Deaf actor, using both hands, fingerspelled the word “R-e-f-l-e-c-t-i-o-n-s,” the lower hand reflecting the top. My friends and I, deeply moved by the simplicity of the moment and the power of American Sign Language (ASL), were awed. The moment pierced our consciousness, filling us with pride of our language and culture…so I’m hoping our future discussions here will reflect the same. Thank you.

While you are here, take a look at the blogroll. Enjoy!

Jane