Visible Cinema: RCS Curates Deaf Shorts is a creative collaboration between the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland BA Performance in BSL and English students, Glasgow Film Theatre and Glasgow Short Film Festival, promoting Deaf culture and championing Deaf-led/interest film. Drawn from open submissions to GSFF, this is a showcase of contemporary filmmaking from around the world. The screening will be followed by an open discussion about the films with RCS Lecturer Mark Stevenson and performer and BA Performance in BSL and English alumni Irina Vartopeanu. The introduction and discussion will have integrated BSL and Speech to Text Service.
Please note: This screening takes place at CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts) and not GFT (Glasgow Film Theatre)
Tickets available here. Further details on each of the films can be found below:
Hand in Hand (12mins)
In the 70's, at a hearing school where sign language is banned; two Deaf girls risk it all to experience true friendship.
Shelley Waddams | New Zealand | 12m
Aphonia
A new boy arrives at a boarding school for deaf children. He does not speak, he cannot sign, and there is no contact with him. A deaf girl helps him find his way into the new world. They make a bond but soon it turns out that the boy doesn't fit in here either.
Marta Z. Nowak | Poland |12m
Tarneit
Tyrone lives with his distressed mother and her lowlife boyfriend. Tyrone’s best friend Clinton, a refugee, lives with his overworked mother and older brother Shaker. Despite these obstacles, the two boys are deeply bonded. Partly because they’re both Deaf, partly through a shared sense of neglect, but mostly because they share a dream of one day escaping the harsh violence that swirls around them.
John Sheedy | Australia | 22m
Content warning: Strong language, homophobia, racism and violence
The Riley Sisters (11mins)
The Riley Sisters tells the story of Izzy and Jess, two young sisters who find themselves alone when their brother Steve is arrested. Steve insists he’s innocent, and asks his sisters to find the friend who betrayed him
Julia Jackman | UK | 11m
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is an adaptation of Shakespeare's classic done in Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS). During Verona's Carnival, we follow the love of young Romeo and Juliet in a complex reality of hate and exploitation of violence wrought by the media.
Adriana Somacal | Brazil | 14m