Washington DC., SAEDNEWS: The drama features deaf actors in many of the main roles, and much of its dialogue is shown through American Sign Language. Writer and director Sian Heder told Sky News that in researching the project, she quickly realised she was planning to do something that is rarely seen on screen.
"When I started writing the script, I went out and I was like, okay, I got to go find the deaf movies, and you're looking for them and you're going back to Children Of A Lesser God 30 years ago - which is Marlee Matlin's Oscar-winning performance - but since then it's just so few and far between, I could count them on one hand, the stories that portray deaf characters, especially in leading roles.
"[I was] looking for these portrayals and trying to find a pure ASL scene on screen where you're watching characters relate in ASL and so it was interesting to sort of be heading into a bit of unknown territory where it was like: 'Oh, there's no roadmap for this, we're going to discover this on our own.'"
Heder said that visiting the set of US show This Close - which was created by and stars deaf actors - helped her to understand what was needed to capture the story she'd written on film, and that she's now hoping to set an example for other film-makers.
