On October 19-20, 2019, the First International Film and Visual Arts Festival “Peace through Silence” was held in Moscow at the Poklonka Cinema at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
Russian and foreign films in sign language were shown at the film festival. Almost all the films were accompanied by subtitles. A total of 16 films participated in the festival, which passed the competitive selection, its main criterion was the participation of deaf or hard of hearing actors and directors, as well as the theme of a deaf person in the world of hearing.
The film festival opened with a screening of the full-length film by Russian director Alexander Sukharev “Watch my Love”. This bright romantic story about the birth of a great feeling between a hearing athlete and a deaf girl photographer did not leave anyone indifferent from the audience.
During the first day, the audience was able to watch such different and informative tapes as” Keys”,” Wiretapping”,” In the black square ” and a number of others.
On the second day after the end of the competition program, the president of the film festival, Alexander Genievsky, warmly thanked all its participants. The last film festival was highly appreciated by the famous director, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Andrey Zhitinkin, and the chairman of the ROOI “Perspektiva” Denis Rosa.
According to the decision of the jury, which included Sergey Bidny (director of the Nedoslov Theater) – chairman, directors Alexander Fomichev and Andrey Andreikin, Olga Yeletskaya, and Sergey Gogol, the winners were awarded.
The prize for the best feature film was won by American director Mark Wood (“Die Hard”), the best actor was recognized as the performer of the main role in this film. The Lithuanian film “Cold Ears” by Linas Mikuta was awarded as the best documentary. The winner among the short films was recognized as the film of Alexander Korolev “Forgotten”, and the best actress was Natalia Khokhlova, who played the main female role in it.
The festival has become a great celebration of cinema art for many deaf viewers.
Winners of THE WORLD THROUGH SILENCE Film Festival 2019
Hard Man – Best Feature Film
Director: Mark Wood, USA
About an old deaf retiree and his difficult relationship with his family. A person who has lived all his life in one place, in one house. He has grown to this place with all his heart, but he no longer has the strength to take care of his large farm. His daughter is trying to send him to a nursing home, but he does not like it at all, and how he can resist such violence against himself.
Watch my Love – Audience Award
Director: Alexander Sukharev, Russia
A talented young man, brought up in an orphanage, from an early age is fascinated by the tough male sport – MMA. He is intensively preparing for the title fight, but His Majesty Chance unexpectedly intervenes in the young man’s ambitious plans. At a training camp in Crimea, he meets a mysterious deaf girl, Dina. She is a photographer and pays special attention to her hands, because her hands are her voice. Overcoming difficulties in communication, young people fall in love with each other.
Lake Windfall – Best feature film reflecting the theme of deaf people
Director: Roger Vass, USA
This film tells about the interaction of people of different nature and physical condition: deaf, hard of hearing and hearing, who find themselves together in an extreme situation. The plot focuses on five characters in the post-appolycaptic period. The film, narrated with humor, also shows us three different types of hearing loss in an original way.
This is ED – Best Comedy Short
Director: Bob Hilterman, Canada
The film illustrates how the difficulties two deaf friends face in communication can also have a humorous side.
Dead Ears – Best Documentary
Director: Linas Mikuta, Lithuania, 2016
A father and his deaf son live on a farm, far from civilization. But, living under the same roof, they remain far from each other. Their worldview is so different that all attempts at communication end in conflict. The father considers his son to be abnormal, and the father’s son is an insensitive boor. Is it possible for the closest people to find their way to each other?
The Forgotten – Best Short Film
Рdirector: Alexander Korolev, Russia, 2016
“Forgotten” is a love story, the heroes of which are the deaf. The main character – the director of the theater of gestures – is applying for divorce, because he has an affair with a theater actress. The wife agrees to a divorce on the condition that the husband carries her in his arms every day. Where exactly, she does not say.
Sound Of Fear – Best Cinematography
Director: Colin Cambell, USA, 2017
Young deaf girl Ivy unwittingly witnesses a group of drug addicts murder a sheriff in a remote resort town. On the run, Ivy rushes through empty streets in search of help. Finally, she finds a family vacationing and tries to get them to call the police, but they cannot understand her. Drug addicts break into their home and kill the entire family. And Ivy and the owners’ thirteen-year-old daughter Molly manage to escape from them.