Eva Libertad’s debut feature Deaf, developed from her 2021 short of the same name, sees a couple’s seemingly solid bond tested by the arrival of their first baby.
When we’re introduced to the deaf Ángela (Miriam Garlo) and the hearing Héctor (Álvaro Cervantes), they communicate via Spanish Sign Language and lipreading. Their loving dynamic feels lived-in and cosy and the audience is immediately invested in their relationship. Héctor is an attentive partner and interpreter throughout Ángela’s pregnancy, but tensions emerge after the birth of their daughter Ona. While the couple wait for test results determining whether Ona is hearing or deaf, Ángela bristles at Héctor’s premature suggestion to register Ona at a nursery for hearing children, and is crestfallen when she spies him trying to get Ona to respond to the clicking of his fingers. Both Ángela and Héctor harbour secret hopes that Ona will turn out like them, but only Ángela has to contend with the fear that she’ll be left behind should Ona become part of the hearing world which is so inaccessible to her.
Motherhood forces Ángela to engage with institutions which are woefully inadequate at accommodating the deaf community. The hospital scene where Ángela gives birth is unbearably tense: the strain of childbirth means Ángela is too exhausted to lipread; Héctor is shooed out of Ángela’s eyeline, leaving her without a means of interpretation; a doctor yells instructions at her from behind a surgical mask. It’s a clear-eyed portrayal of the way medical ableism makes the already dangerous process of childbirth even riskier for deaf people.
Back home with Ona, the demands of the new baby see Héctor reverting to his first language out of convenience and lapsing in his role as interpreter, a carelessness which leaves Ángela feeling slighted. Libertad also prods at taboos around motherhood through her depiction of Ángela’s insecurities, with Héctor’s devotion to Ona leaving her feeling neglected as his partner.
Ángela’s spaces of refuge are the pottery studio where she works and the large deaf community that makes up her friend group. The latter allows for insightful conversations that demonstrate the diversity of thought in the community around things like hearing aids. These conversations are where Ángela can truly relax – she doesn’t have to remind hearing people to speak one at a time and face her when they’re talking, or rely on Héctor to be understood.
Libertad’s script cleverly weaves in the manifold barriers Ángela faces and will make hearing audiences reflect on aspects of deafness they’ve never considered, but Deaf is richer and much more ambitious than an edutainment piece. Its final act features some masterful sound design that further enhances Ángela’s point of view. Sound designers Urko Garay, Enrique G. Bermejo, and Alejandro Castillo recreate the low hum Ángela is used to, a pleasant ambiance that’s replaced with an overstimulating cacophony when she puts in a pair of hearing aids. Snippets of conversation distorted by hisses and crackles underline why many in the deaf community opt not to use these devices.
In a pre-screening video message for the film’s Edinburgh International Film Festival audiences, Libertad said that she and her deaf sister Garlo have been working towards making this film their whole life. Having spoken to deaf women about their experiences of pregnancy and motherhood, Libertad’s characterisation of Ángela is well-researched and layered, but Garlo’s performance of her is a revelation and lends the film a winning authenticity. Deaf is a moving family drama bolstered by Garlo’s powerful lead performance and the warmth and tactility of the filmmaking.
Deaf had its UK premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival and is in cinemas from 12th September