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The 11th Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival

Venue: Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre 
Date: 2022.12.14 - 2022.12.18
Price: HKD85 (Tickets are available at URBTIX now.) 

Programme Schedule:

14/12 (Wed) 7:30pm   Programme 1: Deafness Under the Pandemic
15/12 (Thu) 7:30pm    Programme 2: LGBTQ + Deaf Rainbow
16/12 (Fri) 7:30pm      Opening & Opening film: 1st HKDSFC Awarded Short Film Highlights
17/12 (Sat) 3:00pm     Seminar: Hong Kong Deaf Arts History
17/12 (Sat) 7:30pm     Programme 3: Boundless Deaf Arts
18/12 (Sun) 3:00pm    Programme 4: Whimsical Stories of the Deaf
18/12 (Sun) 7:30pm      Programme 5: Unique History of the Deaf and Closing Ceremony

Get your tickets now!

The 11th Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival

Hong Kong Deaf communities, Asian People's Theatre Festival Society and Hong Kong Arts Centre, hand in hand with many Deaf groups and organisations, staged the first ever Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival in Asia since 2010.
 
And after the pandemic interruptions, the 11th Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival (HKIDFF11) now returns to this December!
This year, a new organising committee for the programming has been formed by Hong Kong Deaf Filmmakers and advocates of Deaf culture with a belief in equal opportunity and embracing diversity. HKIDFF11 will be featuring the award-winning works of the Hong Kong Deaf Short Film Local and International Competition, to encourage and showcase more promising Deaf movies from all over the world. 
 
The HKIDFF11 will also pay tribute to the late Bernard Bragg, the co-founder of the National Theatre of the Deaf, United States and the inventor of Visual Vernacular (VV) in the 1960's. A collection of VV titles are selected in our screening programmes for the audiences, as HKIDFF11 believes that VV will break through language barriers between the deaf and the hearing. We will also have the documentation on VV performance and sharing from the Theatre of the Silence (TOS, Hong Kong) at the closing ceremony.
 
We hope the HKIDFF11 will provide a window for the audiences into an extraordinary art form and may change the way the audiences think about the non-hearing world.
 
Programmes for the 11th Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival: 
 
 

Programme 1: Deafness Under the Pandemic (total duration: 75 minutes)
14/12 (Wed) 7:30pm* with after-screening discussion
Get your tickets now!

【Visual Vernacular (VV) 】THE INNOCENT DOLL
Director / Producer: Nicola Della Maggiora
Italy | 2022 | Italian Sign Language | No subtitles | 4’
A child who adores the doll, plays and carries by himself. When the child grows up and fails to give affection to objects and dolls. For a split second he wants to vent and ruin the innocent doll… One day, the innocent doll comes back to ….
 
TWO DEAF YORKSHIREMEN IN LOCKDOWN 
Director / Producer: Louis Neethling
UK | 2020 | British Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 27’
TWO DEAF YORKSHIREMEN IN LOCKDOWN is about two grumpy old Deaf men living in Yorkshire during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. They use video calls to communicate during the lockdown, and the men tell funny stories and find other ways to amuse each other!

RICE DUMPLING
Director: 高鈺閔
Producer: 牛暄文
Taiwan | 2021 | Taiwanese Sign Language, Mandarin | Chinese and English Subtitles | 16’ 11”
Wen Guang reunites with his family on the Dragon Boat Festival every year, but unfortunately it got cancelled because of COVID-19 this year. He then comes up with a way to make the imperfect Dragon Boat Festival with a perfect ending…

WHO THE HELL IS NIGEL?
Director: Nigel Edward
Producer: Sky Morfopoulos and Devan Francis
Canada | 2021 | American Sign Language, English |  Chinese and English Subtitles | 26’ 19”
An unwitting hero is made of an ASL interpreter who brings a daily dose of light to COVID-19 news briefings. Yet through his rise to fame, the underrepresentation of the Deaf community becomes glaringly evident.



Programme 2: LGBTQ + Deaf Rainbow (total duration: 87 minutes)
15/12 (Thu) 7:30pm*  with after-screening discussion 
Get your tickets now!

【Visual Vernacular (VV) 】FORBIDDEN LOVE
Director / Producer: Nicola Della Maggiora
Italy | 2022 | Italian Sign Language | No subtitles | 6’
"Forbidden love" means that nature and love can connect but humans can ruin the bonds for reasons of technological evolution.
 
WHAT IF?
Director: Teresa Garratty
UK | 2020 | British Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 9’ 50”
After a bad break-up with a nasty ex-partner, Jess questions her worth and struggles to rebuild her self-esteem. With encouragement from her supportive housemate Billy, she finds the courage to start dating again, however, what if it doesn't work out? Or then again, what if it does…?

FAITH
Director: Sahera Khan
UK | 2019 | British Sign language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 6’ 19”
Taliha and Marlyn are very good friends, Marlyn came out as a lesbian a couple of years ago. Taliha is uncomfortable with this although, she wants to speak to Marlyn about LGBT+ issues…
 
UNTIL RAINBOW DAWN (虹色の朝が来るまで)
Director: Mika Imai
Producer: JSLTime
Japan | 2018 | Japanese Sign Language, Japanese | Chinese and English Subtitles | 63’
Hana Takahashi and Ayumi Hoshino both deaf girls, meet through a sign language group and they fall in love. Hana goes back to her parents and comes out about dating a girl, Ayumi. Unexpectedly, the parents could not accept and ask her to leave. Hana is shocked, lost and feels rejected. Ayumi decides to take Hana to an event in Tokyo, a gathering of Deaf LGBTQ. Will Hana find like-minded people, will she open her heart and finally accept herself?
Directed by Mika Imai who is also Deaf, the film is told through sign language.

 
Opening & Opening film: 1st HKDSFC Awarded Short Film Highlights (total duration: 87 minutes)
16/12 (Fri) 7:30pm     
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【Visual Vernacular (VV) 】THE MOTH
Director / Producer: Lisa McBee
USA | 2022 | American Sign Language | No subtitles | 1’ 23”
This is devoted to Alex of the Daily Moth, our Deaf news reporter, sharing the top news in American Sign Language. Director Lisa McBee creates this story to express gratitude to Alex for doing this to the Deaf Community.

DRY FIRE
Director: Adam Bigum, Dan Farmer and Ramas McRae
Producer: Adam McConvell, Amelia Farmer, Adam Bigum and Dan Farmer
Australia | 2021 | Australian Sign Language, English| Chinese and English Subtitles | 22’ 52”
A hunter and his Deaf protégé are tasked with a mission to hunt for food in the Australian bush during a post-apocalyptic future.

SIGN LANGUAGE GAME
Director: Chen Li-yu
Producer: Deaf Culture & Videos Work Team (聾文化影像工作隊)
Taiwan | 2021 | Taiwanese Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 19’ 56”
A Deaf man named Paul is invited to participate in a Sign Language Game. Paul and the other participants are locked in a secret place to play challenges; they all want to win the prize. Who will be the final winner? What’s the purpose behind the game?

AH B
Director: Chan Lok-yin, Chan Wai-fai, Chan Wing-him and Ho Sin-hung
Producer: 陳煒煇
Hong Kong | 2021 | Hong Kong Sign Language, Cantonese | Chinese and English Subtitles | 10’
Directors recorded a few days of the life of a 20 years old boy name Kachun born into a Deaf family, but he is a CODA. The production team documents the daily life of Kachun and his family and discovers more about the life of a CODA in Hong Kong through repairing a cassette tape of Kachun family’s.

SCARLETT
Director: Tobias Lehmann and Mirko Scheit
Producer: Mirko Scheit
Germany | 2020 | German Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 14’ 19”
Chris ordered a sex doll the night after an argument with his girlfriend. However, it’s the beginning of a descent into a nightmare…

MISTER MICHEL
Director: Julien Bourges
Producer: Production Bourges
France | 2019 | French Sign Language, French | Chinese and English Subtitles | 17’ 02”
Taken from a true story in France, a nurse visits a retired patient, who sits watching television in his home. However, she discovers that he is the victim of a terrible injustice…

Deaf Film Seminar

Seminar: Hong Kong Deaf Arts History
17/12 (Sat) 3:00pm   
 *Simultaneous interpretation between Hong Kong Sign Language and Cantonese will be provided.
 
Apply Now
 
There has been a lack of attention to the history of the Deaf in Hong Kong, including oral history records, and even less attention to the history and documentation of Deaf arts. Taking the stage of this HKIDFF which presents diverse forms of different Deaf arts through screenings, we have invited local Deaf artists and Deaf culture advocates to discuss and share how to document the history and art of the Deaf in Hong Kong.

Speakers: Cheung Cheuk Ho Anthony, Chan Yue Tak Edward, Chan Chun Wing Andy, Ng Sui Ping, Wong Yiu Pong Jason, Wong Yiu Leung Aaron

This seminar is sponsored by Labour and Welfare Bureau


 
 
 
Programme 3: Boundless Deaf Arts  (total duration: 91 minutes)
17/12 (Sat) 7:30pm     
Get your tickets now!
 
【Visual Vernacular (VV) 】TIR
Director: Edyta Kozub
Producer: Edyta Kozub
Poland | 2018 | Polish Sign Language | No subtitles | 3’ 47”
“TIR”, which means “truck” in Polish, is a short story about how small decisions, fractions of a second, can affect people’s lives.
 
FUN FOREST - 2022 Sign in Dance MV
Director: 鄭凱之
Producer: Jason Wong
Hong Kong | 2022 | Hong Kong Sign Language, Cantonese | Chinese and English Subtitles | 4’ 51”
FUN FOREST is the first Deaf dance troupe in Hong Kong. It pioneered the local sign in dance in Hong Kong. Now it brings together the Deaf, the hard of hearing, and the hearing, as well as members of different abilities and backgrounds, to achieve harmony.
FUN FOREST hopes to send a message to all Hong Kong people through this music video. Although the epidemic has not subsided, we keep our faith, believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, stand shoulder to shoulder, overcome difficulties together, and move on in the coming year.
 
SOLIR THE ALIEN
Director: Paul Miller
Producer: Rory Studio
UK | 2020 | British Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 10’
In space, not too far away, there is a moon. Living on this moon is an alien called Solir.
Solir spends a lot of time watching over planet Earth and is always on the hunt for rare and unique items. One day, the little alien spots a young boy and girl who seems to communicate differently with the other children. Solir is not able to communicate, so it decides to steal what is important to the young boy and girl - all just to get what it needs. Will Solir get away with it?
 
HERE / NOT HERE
Director: Bim Ajadi
Producer: Anne Beresford ad Andrew Gillman
UK | 2020 | British Sign Language, English | Chinese and English Subtitles | 29’ 21”
The setting is a run-down space that three different gangs: footballers, Krumpers and VV-ers, all think of as their own. The story is about how, despite our competing differences, we can find a common language through movement to communicate and collaborate.

HANDSCAPE
Director: 陳伊如
Producer: 陳楷文、蔣雪涵
China | 2020 | Shanghai Sign Language, Shanghainese and Putonghua | Simplified Chinese and English Subtitles | 18’ 40”
Contemporary Shanghai, summer. Xia Qing, a boy who has been wearing Cochlear Implants due to hearing impairment, has a deep love for dancing. He gains so much joy just from copying Martha Graham’s hand gestures in a dance magazine. A kid with a precocious nature, he sometimes paints his pinky nail red just for that glimpse of beauty. Yet all these passionate pursuits are misunderstood and questioned by his single, deaf mother. Given the opportunity to audition for his favorite dance company once in a blue moon, he has no choice but to return to his body -- He seeks his mother’s approval and longs to overcome this obscure self-identity crisis, through the silent language on his fingertips.

CODA
Director: Erika Davis-Marsh
Producer: Cassandra Jones and Laurie J. Gardiner
USA | 2019 | American Sign Language, English | Chinese and English Subtitles | 22’ 19”
Alex is a CODA. She uses dance to try to find her place between Deaf and hearing.

 

Programme 4: Whimsical Stories of the Deaf  (total duration: 85 minutes)
18/12 (Sun) 3:00pm   
Get your tickets now!

【Visual Vernacular (VV) 】ANIMORPHS
Director: Justin Perez
USA | 2020 | In American Sign Language | No subtitles | 2’ 46”
I'm DEAF person and we can become anything that we wanted to be. OR we, Deaf as an individual always have many talents. not one, not two. MANY!
 
DON’T BE LOST
Director: 王浩海
Producer: 鄭小三
China | 2021 | Chinese Sign Language | Simplified Chinese and English Subtitles | 11’ 04”
A deaf student who dreamed of becoming a painter. He painted with unceasing diligence, but in the summer vacation after the college entrance examination, he wanted to experience living independently in society in advance. Unfortunately, he fell into the trap of gambling by two friends who suddenly came to him. When he came to realise the truth, he was in a dilemma. Until he received a text message from his mother that things took an unexpected turn...
 
LIFE IN SILENCE
Hong Kong Young Artist Short Film with the theme of “Me”
Director / Producer: Ebisutani Yuka
Hong Kong | 2022 | Hong Kong Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 4’ 21”
Story of a Deaf new generation artist.
As technology improved, some could use hearing aid to speak and listen. So why she gives up the hearing aid that have been used for more than 20 years in recent year? What made her return to a silent world and brush up on her Sign Language?
We wish people to hear our voice, but who is willing to hear the voice of the Deaf?
 
HOPE
Director: David Ellington
Producer: John Maidens and Rachel Frummond-Hay
UK | 2019 | British Sign Language, English | Chinese and English Subtitles | 27’ 29”
Hope is a carefree, fun-loving Deaf teenager... but a fatal diagnosis is about to change everything…
 
DEAFENING DARKNESS
Director: Mark Trifunovic
Producer: Candic Leigha, Ali Saeedi and Mark Trifunovic
Canada | 2019 | American Sign Language | Chinese and English Subtitles | 19’ 40”
A brave Deaf woman searching for her missing friend encounters a Deaf alien struggling to come to terms with his traumatic past.

FEELING THROUGH
Director: Doug Roland
Producer: Marlee Matlin, Jack Jason and Andrew Carlberg
USA | 2020 | American Sign Language, English | Chinese and English Subtitles | 18’ 17”
A teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.


Programme 5: Unique History of the Deaf (total duration: 99 minutes) and Closing Ceremony  
18/12 (Sun) 7:30pm      
Get your tickets now!

THIS IS DEAF: BLACK LIVES MATTER
Director: Giles Bowman
Producer: Gareyj Deighan, Julian Peedle-Callo and Mark Davenport
UK | 2021 | British Sign Langauge | Chinese and English Subtitles | 27’ 40”
A light-hearted talk show is discussing how the Black Lives Matter Movement is affecting the lives of black Deaf people in the UK.

OLD MOTHER TONGUE
Director: Mark Trifunovic
Producer: Mark Trifunovic, Alana Robshaw and Ali Saeedi
Canada | 2021 | American Sign Language, English | Chinese and English Subtitles | 16’ 58”
A Deaf man grapples with his sense of identity in a hearing world and is taken on a fabulist journey through time to one of the most significant events in Deaf history: the Milan Conference on the Education of the Deaf 1880, when Sign Language was banned from use in education.
 
ONLY I CAN HEAR (私だけ聴こえる)
Director: Heath Cozens
Producer: Mayu Hirano, Kengo Toyada, Nancy Guerin and Paul Cadieux
Japan | 2021 | American Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language, English and Japanese | Chinese and English Subtitles | 53’ 35”
In the American Midwest, three hearing teenagers come of age in the vibrant, raucous Deaf community. In search of a home between two disparate worlds, the young women explore their unique identity as CODA — Children of Deaf Adults.
  
 

Tickets are available at URBTIX now.

 
Ticket Price: $85/ $68*
*20% discount for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and the minder. Concessionary ticket holders must produce evidence of their identity or age upon admission.
*20% off for HKAC Individual members & HKAC Bee. Discount is only available at the URBTIX Sales Counters, members must present a valid membership card upon purchase.
*20% off for each purchase of 4 or more standard tickets.

Internet booking: www.urbtix.hk
Credit card telephone booking: 2111 5999
Mobile ticketing app: My URBTIX (Android & iPhone versions)
Ticketing enquiries: 3761 6661 (10:00-20:00 Daily)
Programme enquiries: 2582 0248 
 

Co-presented by:
Asian People's Theatre Festival Society
Hong Kong Arts Centre

Curated by:
Organising Committee of the 11th Hong Kong International Deaf Film Festival

Supported by:
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
 
Partners (Listed in No Particular Order):
Theatre of the Silence
Centre for Community Cultural Development
Hong Kong Society for the Deaf
Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong Y's Men's Centre for the Deaf
CODA Hong Kong
Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong
SLCO Community Resources
Deaf Garden
Deaf Classroom
Fun Forest
Brainfood
HKSLized
Hong Kong Deaf News
WeSign HK
Silent World Co. Limited(SWCL)
Hong Kong Federation of the Deaf
Hong Kong Sign Language Bible Translation Association (HKSLBTA)
Hong Kong School for the Deaf Alumni Association
Lutheran School for the Deaf
School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong
Silence Pak Tin Centre
Hong Kong Sports Association of the Deaf
Revol Studio
 

Programmes are subject to change without prior notice.

The following measures will be implemented for screenings, to combat the prevailing threat of Novel Coronavirus:

  • All audience must wear face masks and comply with the requirements and restrictions announced by the Government
  • No smoking, eating and drinking. Unauthorised photo-taking, audio and/or video recording is strictly forbidden
  • Staff have the right to deny the admission of any person with temperature higher than 37.5°C
Facebook:
Hong Kong Arts Centre
Hong Kong Arts Centre – Moving Images 香港藝術中心:流動影像
https://www.facebook.com/hkidff
 
Instagram:
@hongkongartscentre
@hongkongartscentremovingimages
https://www.instagram.com/hkidff/ 
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