Interview with people from the “Dear Hearing World” video
[Transcript] Have you seen a short film titled “Dear Hearing World” yet? This film took place in London, United Kingdom. It was posted last August and has been trending around Facebook for several months now.
(clip of DHW)
This short film is based on a deaf British poet, Raymond Antrobus’ poem, called “Dear Hearing World.” The deaf woman in the film is Vilma Jackson and she is signing the poem in British Sign Language (BSL) as Antrobus himself is voicing the words. There is music in the background.
(clip of DHW)
You can see the full video with the link provided in the transcript. The Daily Moth did a story on Antrobus (the deaf poet) last March about him winning the Ted Hughes Award for his collection of poetry called “The Perseverance.”
We reached out to Jackson, who is a performing artist in theatre, music, etc. We were curious of her experience of being part of this film. I want to let you know that in our interview, Jackson is using BSL. I am signing ASL with a little bit of International Sign Language and BSL. There are subtitles included.
--
Renca Dunn: How did you get involved with this film?
Vilma Jackson: A deaf person named, Raymond, he is a deaf poet, he saw me on Facebook and contacted me. He asked to meet with me. So, I sat down with him to have a conversation about his poem, his life, his upbringing, etc. That helped me get a better picture of what he wanted to do. The next thing we did was to meet up with a director named Adam at his studio. He is a hearing person. So, we met up and discussed some things. Adam and Raymond know each other from before. This was my first time meeting these two.
We went ahead, started with the filming and then after they edited and watched the film. Something was not right. Something was not working out. I asked if we could do it again. Raymond and Adam agreed. These two went revisited the story and looked at the drawing board to help them visualize better. After that, the decision was to film outside in the dark during night-time and it was cold! We did this in two days. All night. It was really a challenge.
Renca Dunn: Ah yes! In the video I noticed you were wearing a thick coat and could see it was at night-time!
Vilma Jackson: Yes! Cold!
Renca Dunn: What was the purpose of this film? Why did you want to distribute this film?
Vilma Jackson: Raymond, the poet, had frustrating experiences in his life, lots of barriers, faced challenges, discrimination, and etc. He feels frustrated seeing deaf schools close down. He feels like..why? He feels like we’re going back to the old times with no access or sign language- sitting in classroom not understanding anything, watching everyone else have access except for deaf people. Just so frustrated. So, that’s the reason for this video and hope that people out there will watch it and understand.
Renca Dunn: After the video was released, what was everyone’s reactions? Did they like it or not like it? What did they say?
Vilma Jackson: Well, I was not expecting the video to go viral. We got a lot of support from people. It was a powerful message. Many expressed that they had similar experiences- We discussed their experiences and my experiences, we all shared that. It was lovely. We got positive feedback. Also, we submitted this video in festivals. The hearing people saw the video. We’ve got three awards and hope to win more! I’m happy to see this.
Renca Dunn: So, when you read Raymond’s poem, did you feel connected to it? You felt you shared the same feelings as Raymond?
Vilma Jackson: Yes, definitely! Because we have similar struggles in life, school and barriers.
Same difficulties so we understand each other. When I read the poem, I felt angry at hearing people because they took our culture away, they took our sign language, they took our children’s future and their education, etc. It’s not fair for us. So, I want this video to go viral for hearing people to see and understand our deaf people’s daily struggles and the problems we face. Hopefully this video helps them realize that we need better communication access for everyone. So, yeah, I understand.
Renca Dunn: You have any last words you would like to share for deaf people across the world watching this interview?
Vilma Jackson: I would hope that deaf people who watch this video, reflect on it, and continue to share this video. This will make more hearing people watch this video and see our daily struggles, the difficulties we face, and the challenges we have when we do not have communication access. Also, we need to think of our deaf children of our future and for generations to come to have better access for them. We understand how deaf people back then feel with no access, no sign language, absolutely nothing. I know that feeling of pain of struggling so I do not want the next generation of children to go through that. I want the children to have better access.
----
Renca Dunn:
Thank you Jackson for your time.
Jackson also has her own personal Facebook page where you can find her signing various music videos. The link to her FB is in this transcript.
We have reached out to the film director, Adam Docker, who is a hearing himself, for his comments about his views on this video. Docker is a co-director of Red Earth Studios and has worked with Antrobus before on several other short films.
Docker explains that originally the poem was filmed in his studio, but something was not right. So, Docker and Ces Terranova, his work partner, came up with different ideas about filming in the streets of London instead.
We asked him how this poem affected him as a hearing person. This is his response:
{TEXT}
You can get so drawn into a project and get so wrapped up in the whole production, and so it wasn’t until I watched the finished film that the message of Ray’s poem really sunk in.
The anger and visible frustration that Vilma conveyed really opened my eyes to the difficulties faced by the deaf community. It’s obviously made me more aware and sensitive to the background and real life issues of people with disabilities.
We also asked what he hoped for people to understand from the video.
{TEXT}
First and foremost, I hope that the deaf community have a film they can identify with, that represents them, that they can champion and connect with. Secondly I hope that hearing people will take from it what I got from it and hopefully gain a better understanding of some of the challenges the deaf community face.
Docker said that when the video got posted, he got people's responses rom Ecuador, Japan, India, North America, all over Europe, and more. He did not expect that, but obviously it was a powerful video and it meant something to people. Thank you Docker for your comments.
The team hopes for the "Dear Hearing World" video to continue being shared for more impact around the world.
Dear Hearing World Full Video: https://www.facebook.com/RedEarthStudio/videos/2136226003343119/
Vilma Jackson’s FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/VCRJ90/
Raymond Antrobus website: http://www.raymondantrobus.com/essays
———
Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]