OFF: FRIDAY 27 AUGUST

SESSION 8:  12PM  FREE

CINEMA FUTURA: Would You Like Captions With That?

Continuing the festival’s commitment of improving cinema access everywhere, this year’s forum will bring you up to speed on the latest access developments in mainstream cinema. If you are a person who is Deaf, hard of hearing, legally blind, have a vision impairment or you simply just love going to the movies, this forum is the place to have your say.

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SESSION 9:  2PM

WHAT’S LIKE TO BE MY MOTHER (JAK TO JEST BYC MOJA MATKA)
Norah McGettigan, 2007, 30min, Drama, Poland

The tight bonds between Julia and her mother Monika threaten to snap or strangle them both when Julia makes a film about her mother. Monica is afraid to see herself as a woman who has lost her legs, instead she sees a woman who is about to lose a daughter.

SHINING STARS
Yael Kipper, 2008, 61min, Documentary, Israel

On 4 March, 1996, a young woman named Maytal was seriously wounded in a suicide attack in Tel Aviv. Nine years later she has separated from her husband and commences fertility treatments to have a baby as a single parent. A searing portrait of a powerful but damaged person grappling her way back to intimacy, empathy and love.

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SESSION 10:  4PM

RITA
Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia , 2009, 18min, Drama, Italy

Rita is ten years old and blind since birth. She is stubborn, curious and battles her overprotective mother. Her claustrophobic world is suddenly breached by a terrified young man on the run. Together they make their escape from the house, down to the beach and into the dark water.

CONSOLATION
Egor Karpov, 2010, 24min, Drama, Russian Federation

Ivan is stuck in a small provincial town on a business trip and is looking for pleasant company. He is quickly drawn into the mysterious world of the beautiful Galya and her odd demands. What they see in each other has fatal consequences.

A BETTER TOMORROW
Deok-yun Lim, 2009, 33 min, Experimental, South Korea

Acquired blindness, cardiac failure and kidney dialysis are creative inspiration rather than obstacles for Lim. This multilayered film is truly a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma with a Korean splatter-fest finale.

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SESSION 11:  6PM

THE DEAF MAN
David Kurs, 2007, 10min, Fiction, U S A

A Deaf man is held against his wishes by an unseen narrator who persuasively invites the audience to question how this man might function. A powerful deconstruction of ignorance and stereotyping.

COMING OUT
Louis  Neethling, 2006, 7min, Comedy, United Kingdom

This quirky comedy explores Deaf identity as a teenager outs himself to his mother. Why has he been hiding all those magazines and videos and what will his father say when he finds out? Family life will never be the same again.

50/50
David Ellington and James Banks, 2010, 27min, Comedy, United Kingdom

Andy is Deaf, Jez is hearing and they are both broke and living in a van. Jez dreams up a series of perfect get-rich scams but Andy is having doubts.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
Rosa Rogers, 2007, 24min, Documentary, Brazil

Samba is one of the fastest dances in the world and Rio is where the best dancers perform. Nana is a young British Deaf woman with a passion for dance. She takes on the challenge of learning to dance samba in one week to dance in the Carnival. But will she cut it with the best?

DEPARTURE LOUNGE
Louis Neethling, 2009, 27min, Drama, United Kingdom

Friendship and Deaf solidarity develops slowly between Sid and Matt. Sid is old, alone and not happy to be confined to a hospital bed. Matt is a young cleaner, busy running away from new responsibilities. They don’t know it, but time is running out for both of them.

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SESSION 12:  8PM

SEE WHAT I’M SAYING
Hilari Scarl, 2009, 91min, Documentary, U S A

Four Deaf entertainers, four intertwined journeys. Bob was a drummer in Beethoven’s Nightmare, the world’s only Deaf rock band, and now wants to put the band back together. CJ is a famous comedian who is still desperate to perform to hearing audiences. Robert is a brilliant actor and mime artist but battles homelessness. TL is a hard of hearing singer trying to produce her first CD, Not Deaf Enough.