The silent child
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The silent child |
| Original title | The Silent Child |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language |
English BSL |
| Publishing year | 2017 |
| length | 20 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Chris Overton |
| script | Rachel Shenton |
| production |
Rebecca Harris Daniel Ormerod Julie Foy |
| music | Amir Konjani |
| camera | Ali Farahani |
| cut | Emily Walder |
| occupation | |
| |
The Silent Child is a British short film directed by Chris Overton .
action
Libby is deaf, but her parents didn't notice this until the girl was three years old. Libby is the straggler in the family, there are already two teenage children. Her parents can hardly deal with her deafness and convince themselves that Libby can lip read and thus participate in family life. They freely interpret their reactions to certain situations.
Shortly before Libby's school enrollment, the family hires young Joanne, who is supposed to teach her sign language so that Libby's school start is easier. The girl thaws after a short time and begins to communicate with Joanne in sign language. Libby's mother Sue is unwilling to invest time in learning sign language, but at the same time she does not want to accept that Libby communicates in a language she does not understand. She urges Libby to improve her lip reading skills. Sue's husband Paul doesn't invest time in Libby; Joanne learns by chance that Paul is not Libby's father. When Sue's son Seb begins to learn sign language with Joanne's help, Sue quits Joanne. Libby is sent to a normal school without the assistance of a sign language interpreter. In the pre-test she does not understand what is being asked of her. She stands alone in the playground while the other children play. Joanne comes to the school gate and Libby sadly tells her in sign language that she loves her; Joanne also means to her that she loves her before she leaves crying.
The credits give the numbers: 90 percent of deaf people live in hearing families; over 78 percent attend regular schools without additional support, so the film hopes to improve this situation.
production
The silent child was Rachel Shenton's screenplay debut , who also played Joanne in the film. Shenton learned sign language early on, as her father became deaf due to illness when Shenton was 12 years old. The script for the film was completed in May 2016; the film was shot in Staffordshire within 10 days in 2017 . Lead actress Maisie Sly, who is deaf herself, was five years old at the time of filming. Communication with her took place via British Sign Language .
The silent child made its film debut at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August 2017 , where the film won several festival awards. On November 24, 2018, the film was shown on German television for the first time on ARTE . Due to the success of the short film, Chris Overton considered making the short film as a feature film.
Awards
The silent child won the Oscar in the category Best Short Film in 2018 .
Web links
- The quiet child in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official page for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton on their Oscar-winning short The Silent Child . film.britishcouncil.org, July 24, 2018.
- ↑ Chris Overton: The Silent Child . frontrunnermagazine.com, March 5, 2018.