People Next Door

An Academy Award-winning romance. James begins teaching at a school for the deaf. His belief that they should be taught to speak doesn’t wash with Sarah, who will need persuading if he is to draw her out of her world. But after falling in love with Sarah, James must learn that if we love someone, we can’t control them.

Although only three people and minimal funding were involved in its creation, this picture is one of the most important documentaries of all time. The story of Fini Straubinger, a deaf-blind woman, demonstrates what it means to be truly alone. How can deaf-blind people understand our world? And can they reconcile themselves to their fate?

Employing purely cinematic devices, the film conveys to a hearing audience the way in which the hearing-impaired perceive the world around them. The Past tells the story of František, a lost man who lands himself in prison after killing the lover of his girlfriend Líza in a fit of rage. An evocative drama from Ivo Trajkov with Karel Zima in the lead role.

Could it ever happen that something we call a disability might become necessary for survival? Since Their arrival on Earth, it has become essential to remain silent. Even the smallest sound can attract Their attention – and certain death. The Abbot family’s eldest daughter was born deaf, and their knowledge of sign language is protecting them. But for how long?

Wally is rude, loud, and blind. Dave is cultured, quiet, and deaf. They couldn’t be more different, but they complement each other perfectly. A classic of the genre, this crime comedy brings to the screen two hardheaded guys who don’t take guff from anyone.

Libby, who is deaf, is growing up in a family where, for all the rush, there’s still no time left for the seemingly shy little girl. Everything changes when she meets a social worker named Joanne… This Academy Award-winning short film is an empathetic manifesto on the right of the deaf to have their own language. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaking delegation headed by screenwriter and actress Rachel Shenton, ambassador of Britain’s National Deaf Children’s Society.

Sergei is the new kid at a boarding school for deaf-mute children. During the course of his harrowing initiation he endeavours to experience love in spite of the emotion-deprived world around him. This icy debut, which employs the untraditional medium of sign language, needs not a single word to convey the full, devastating picture of how human society works – a fact also reflected in the film’s array of coveted awards.