Even though a silent language, sign language has a strong voice and presence globally, which is only growing. British Sign Language has now been recognised as an official language across Wales, England and Scotland whilst in South Africa, its own sign language has also obtained official status. Moreover, we are seeing the increasing recognition of this incredible and diverse language is the inclusivity of media platforms such as musical concerts with sign language interpreters, captioning and multilingual subtitles on live-streamed shows (e.g football matches) as seen here.

Accompanying this, are a growing number of films depicting sign language and deaf/hearing-impaired culture. There is some incredible media representing the difficulties, advances and unique dynamics sign language and sign language users can encounter. Therefore, in honour of this fascinating language, we have brought together some great examples of films which depict sign language across the world. 

1. Silent Children, New Language (1997)

A fascinating classic BBC documentary on the nature of not only sign language but also communication and linguistics. In the 1980s in Nicaragua, children, who could not hear, talk or lip-read, invented a completely new sign language of their own. This 40-minute film follows American linguist Judy Kehl who explores this language and investigates the lives of these children. You can read more on the language’s development and usage here and you can watch the film for free via this link: https://archive.org/details/SilentChildrenNewLanguage

2. La Famille Bélier (2014) and Coda (2021)

These are two fairly recent films featuring a major plotline (Coda is an American remake of La Famille Belier) around sign language so they offer a more modern and even daily insight into the communicative and emotional role the language takes in families with deaf relatives.

The two films essentially follow the same plot: a 17 year-old girl is the only hearing member of a deaf family. As a CODA (child of deaf adults), her life often revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents as well as working mornings before school to help her parents and brother keep their business afloat. But in joining her high school’s choir club, the girl finds she has a talent and passion for singing but slowly her obligations start to conflict with her newfound dreams.

Whilst both films utilise different forms of sign language (one being French, the other American), they were well-received, particularly CODA which featured genuine deaf actors playing the family members, for their depictions of sign-language users and their experiences in different settings.

The two films are also indicative of the prevalent versatility and depth of sign language, as there are more than 300 different sign languages from around the world! Incidentally, American Sign Language is actually more similar to French Sign Language than BSL. The gestures differ enormously to BSL, and ASL also uses a single-handed fingerspelling system whilst BSL uses two hands. It’s worth adding that even within the same sign language, there can be significant regional dialects and distinctions.

If you like these films, it may be worth watching Beyond Silence, a German film, which was made beforehand and features a very similar plot of a CODA who also goes on to pursue music.

3. A Quiet Place (2018)/ A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

Perhaps not one for non-horror fans, this tense science-fiction film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where noise-sensitive aliens have invaded and kill anything that makes a sound. Out of the dwindling human population, one family has managed to survive, particularly due to their ability to communicate in American Sign Language as the daughter cannot hear (played by Millicent Simmonds, who is deaf herself). A Quiet Place II is the sequel, following immediately where the first film left off and in which Regan, the daughter, comes even more into her own as a main protagonist.

4. The Silent Child (2017)

This Oscar-winning short film focuses more on the experience of deafness as a young child as well as the importance of learning sign language. The main child protagonist, Libby, is played by six-year-old Deaf actor Maisie Sly, who signs fluently. The main protagonist, 6-year old Libby lives with her family who does not understand or at least, recognise her deafness.  With the arrival of a social worker, Joanne, Libby learns British Sign Language, enabling her to communicate and express herself.  You can watch the full short film below. 

5. Sound of Metal (2019)

Whilst the lead actor is not deaf himself, Darius Marder’s drama has been commended for its depiction of not only deafness at various stages in life but also the tensions between deaf and hearing cultures. It was well-received particularly for its film and sound editing, particularly its usage of closed captions, allowing a visual means of following the protagonist’s hearing loss and change of experience. The film follows Ruben (Ahmed), a metal drummer in America, who loses his hearing and how his life changes. A recovering drug addict himself, he joins a shelter for Deaf recovering addicts (played by deaf actors) where the audience get to see more of the social dynamics within deaf communities as well.

You can also read this great review of the film by film critic and found of the blog ‘Hear Me Out’, Ahmed Khalifa.

To give you a greater insight and context into sign language, here is a clear video of basic signs in BSL and how to do them. See how many you can learn!

IH London is proud to announce that we are running Level 1 BSL courses from October 2023. Our aim is to help make BSL accessible to everyone. Find out more about our brand new BSL courses here.