The Silent Child (2017)

Directed by: Chris Overton | 20 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Rachel Shenton, Maisie Sly, Rachel Fielding, Philip York, Anna Barry, Sam Rees, Annie Cusselle, Marilyn Willrich

The short film ‘The Silent Child’ opens with a beautiful dreamy image, filmed from a bird’s eye view, of a young woman in a red jacket cycling through a misty rural autumn landscape. Together with the atmospheric music, this scene takes on something mysterious, melancholic and also something ominous. The woman, Joanne, is on her way to a typical upper-class family to accompany the youngest member of the family, Libby, a six-year-old deaf girl, on her way to primary school.

Joanne notices that the other members of the family have neither difficulty nor time to empathize with Libby’s world. Understanding Libby’s disability ranges from denial that Libby needs any extra help to an underestimation of her intellectual abilities. Joanne notices that Libby really benefits from learning sign language, and she manages what the others can’t: get through to Libby and understand her. Libby is a bright girl with the same mental abilities as any other child, only to develop them properly she has to go to a suitable school for her, where she can communicate with sign language. Unfortunately, her mother thinks otherwise.

‘The Silent Child’ draws attention to the fate of a majority of deaf children who go to a regular school without special guidance, for example in the form of a teacher who knows sign language. As a result, many of these children are lagging behind and underachieving, which seems to confirm the stigma that deaf people are less bright.

‘The Silent Child’ knows how to convey this message powerfully and emotionally. You could say that the film goes a bit too far: in the image, the musical setting and in the conversations, the director seems to hint at a larger and more complex story. The end comes a bit abrupt, which is why it is no less penetrating, but the informative closing text is a bit rough.