“The film, flowing with sublime images, is as poignant as it is captivating. ” — La Dépêche du Midi

“A masterpiece of aesthetic images and a plea for language as a fundamental human right.” — DOK.fest Munich

DER’s Fall Film Series comes to a close on December 5th with the intimate and aesthetically stunning documentary, A Life Without Words.

Hailed as one of the top five Latin American documentaries of 2012 by the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, A Life Without Words portrays deaf siblings, Dulce María and Francisco, raised in rural Nicaragua who have lived their entire lives without any access to language — spoken, written, or signed — until a deaf sign-language teacher arrives determined to teach them their first words. As we enter their isolated world, we are presented with uncomfortable questions about what life would be like without language. This film, however, avoids hard and fast answers, and is a quiet exploration of the challenging questions it poses.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, Adam Isenberg, and with the founder of the Nicaraguan Sign Language Projects, James Shepard-Kegl.

The film will be shown with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, and an ASL interpreter will be present during the Q&A.

When: December 5th at 7pm
Where: The Bright Family Screening Room at Emerson’s Paramount Center, 4th floor
559 Washington St, Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Facebook event page

Admission is free and open to the public, so please spread the word to your friends, students, colleagues, and social media outlets! We hope to see you there!

DER’s Fall Film Series is sponsored in part by Emerson College and the United Nations Association of Boston.

This fall, DER is proudly partnering with Emerson College and the United Nations Association of Greater Boston to bring you a multi-cultural film series! We’re looking forward to our second screening of Fambul Tok on October 24th — see you there!

Named one of “The 12 Best Films of SXSW” in 2011 by Paste Magazine, Fambul Tok is told by the victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war. In this film, Sierra Leoneans come together for the first time in tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies to revive their ancient practice of fambul tok (family talk). Fambul Tok explores a culture that believes true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals, and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities.

Libby Hoffman, the film’s producer and president of the organization Catalyst for Peace will be joining us for a Q&A after the screening. Dr. Gillian Goslinga, an anthropologist and filmmaker whose current work focuses on community ritual and healing from historical trauma, will moderate the Q&A.

Each screening will be held at Emerson’s Bright Family Screening Room at 7pm. Admission is free and open to the public, so please spread the word to your friends, students, colleagues, and social media outlets! We hope to see you at this event, and at our our final screening in December!

Upcoming screenings:

A LIFE WITHOUT WORDS
Thursday, 12/5, 7pm
Guest speakers TBA
In rural Nicaragua, deaf young adults Dulce Maria and her brother Francisco have lived their entire lives without any access to language — spoken, written, or signed — until Tomasa, a deaf sign-language teacher, arrives determined to teach them their first words.

Sponsored by:
   

This fall, DER is proudly partnering with Emerson College and the United Nations Association of Greater Boston to bring you a multi-cultural film series! The first screening is fast approaching, so be sure to mark your calendars for AMEER GOT HIS GUN on September 19th!

Nominated for an Israeli Academy Award in 2012, AMEER GOT HIS GUN tells the story of a young Arab-Israeli Muslim who volunteers to join the Israeli Defense Forces with the belief that his induction will lead to equality and a sense of belonging to the state he lives in, the state he wants to love. Drawing fire from Jewish and Palestinian societies, he sets out on a tough voyage to civic and self definition.

Naomi Levari, the film’s director, will be Skyping in from Israel for a Q&A after the screening. The Q&A will be moderated by Dr. Melinda Robbins, an Emerson professor with extensive international media experience. Join the event on Facebook!

Each screening will be held at Emerson’s Bright Family Screening Room at 7pm. Admission is free and open to the public, so please spread the word to your friends, students, colleagues, and social media outlets! We hope to see you at this event, and at our other screenings listed below!

Other screenings in the series include:

FAMBUL TOK
Thursday, 10/24, 7pm
Guest speakers TBA
Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war come together
for the first time in tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness
ceremonies. Fambul Tok explores a culture that believes true justice lies
in redemption and healing for individuals, and that forgiveness is the
surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities.

A LIFE WITHOUT WORDS
Tuesday, 12/3, 7pm
Guest speakers TBA
In rural Nicaragua, deaf young adults Dulce Maria and her brother Francisco
have lived their entire lives without any access to language — spoken,
written, or signed — until Tomasa, a deaf sign-language teacher, arrives
determined to teach them their first words.

Sponsored by:
   

Photos courtesy of Francisco Palma. See more photos from the retrospective on flickr.