USA,
2000, 80 min
Shown in 2000
CREDITS
- dir
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Josh Aronson
- prod
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Roger Weisberg
- cam
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Brian Danitz, Gordy Waterman
- editor
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Ann Collins
- source
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Public Policy Productions, 3 Ludlow Ln., Palisades, NY 10964. FAX: 914-398-2620. EMAIL: ppptv@aol.com
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COMMENTS
Josh Aronson in person.
OTHER
A remarkable medical technology known as the cochlear implant has made it possible for deaf children to hear. For some, the device is clearly a miracle of modern science and cause for celebration, but for others, it is a cruel and unnecessary procedure that poses a significant threat to the deaf community and its entire way of life. The Artinian family is a true embodiment of this heated and complex debate, and their incredible story clearly demonstrates the tension and raw emotion at its core. Two brothers, one deaf and one hearing and both the fathers of deaf children, struggle with the decision of whether or not to implant their children and come to very different conclusions. Their decisions spark passionate responses from hearing and deaf relatives on every side. Raising issues about deaf culture that most in the hearing world never consider, the battle is both fascinating and agonizing to witness. But out of the Artinian’s extraordinary candor emerges a rare and intimate portrait of the deaf that raises questions at every turn about the definitions of personal identity, disability, culture and community.
—Joanne Parsont
FACTOID #99
Philadelphia-born, British-raised director Richard Lester, who shot the trippy Petulia in San Francisco during the 1967 Summer of Love, directed our Opening Night film and attended the Festival two years in a row, accompanying 1966’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum and 1967’s How I Won the War.
