List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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There is a body of films that feature the deaf and hard of hearing. The Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series wrote, "The world of the deaf has received little attention in film. Like blindness... it has been misused as a plot gimmick in syrupy romances." Miriam Nathan Lerner, writing in M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Cultures, said that films featuring deaf and hard of hearing characters rarely focus on deafness itself but rather use it to advance the story or to help understand hearing characters. She said, "Films shape and reflect cultural attitudes and can serve as a potent force in influencing the attitudes and assumptions of those members of the hearing world who have had few, if any, encounters with deaf people." She identified various classifications behind the representation of deafness in film: deafness as a plot device, as a metaphor, as a symbolic commentary on society, or as a psychosomatic response to trauma; deaf characters as protagonist informants or as parallels to the protagonist, et cetera.
The following films were directed by deaf directors: Deafula (1975), Lake Windfall (2013), No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie (2013), See What I'm Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary (2009) and Sign Gene (2017).
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List of films
| Film | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A Silent Agreement | 2017 | A profoundly deaf man encourages his new boyfriend, an aspiring writer/actor grappling with a speech impediment, to pursue his entertainment career, though they face abuse from an industry mentor, played by Paul Mercurio. |
| The 355 | 2022 | The spy film features an ensemble cast that includes deaf actor Emilio Insolera as a hacker.<ref name="n'duka" /> |
| Amy | 1981 | A hearing woman leaves her domineering hearing husband after the death of their deaf child. She becomes a teacher at a school for the deaf.<ref name="disney" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Adventures of Power | 2008 | In the quest to become the world's greatest air-drummer, a small-town dreamer must overcome obstacles and ridicule to save the day. |
| And Now Tomorrow | 1944 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Audible (short) | 2021 | Football player Amaree McKenstry-Hall and his Maryland School for the Deaf teammates attempt to defend their winning streak while coming to terms with the tragic loss of a close friend. |
| Babel | 2006 | In one of the film's sub-stories, a deaf Japanese high school girl (played by hearing actress Rinko Kikuchi) who knows Japanese Sign Language struggles with her hearing mother's death and engages in sexual behavior with hearing men of different ages.<ref name="stevens" /><ref name="lerner" /> |
| Baby Driver | 2017 | Action film in which the hearing but tinnitus-struck protagonist (Ansel Elgort) who works as a getaway driver has a deaf foster father (played by deaf actor CJ Jones).<ref name="debruge_baby_driver" /> |
| Bangkok Dangerous | 1999 | Thai thriller film set in Bangkok, in which a deaf hitman succeeds in his occupation because he does not react to gunfire.<ref name="bradshaw_bangkok_dangerous" /><ref name="lerner" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Bangkok Dangerous | 2008 | The American remake of the 1999 Thai film of the same name stars a white American hitman in Bangkok who has a deaf girlfriend.<ref name="bradshaw_bangkok_dangerous" /> |
| Beethoven's Great Love | 1937 | <ref name="armstrong" /> Lyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantic hero, an accursed artist. |
| Template:Sortname (French: La Famille Bélier) | 2014 | In the French film, the hearing daughter of a deaf couple discovers that she has a singing talent.<ref name="debruge_belier_family" /><ref name="atkinson" /> |
| Black | 2005 | The Hindi film features a deaf-blind student and her alcoholic teacher.<ref name="black" /> |
| Beyond Silence (German: Jenseits der Stille) | 1996 | The German film features a hearing daughter of deaf parents who seeks independence from her family and meets another child of deaf adults (CODA) and falls in love with him.<ref name="ebert_beyond_silence" /><ref name="lerner" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Bratz | 2007 | One of the main characters, Yasmin, falls in love with Dylan, a deaf football player at the same school.<ref name="lynch" /> |
| Break Up | 1998 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Bridge to Silence | 1989 | In the American TV film, a deaf woman recovers from a car crash, caused by a drunk driver, that kills her husband. Her hearing daughter is looked after by her hearing mother.<ref name="terry" /><ref name="lopez-johnson" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Children of a Lesser God | 1986 | In the drama film, a speech teacher falls in love with a deaf girl (played by deaf actor Marlee Matlin) at a school for the deaf in New England. The film was Matlin's debut, and she won an Academy Award for her performance.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| CODA | 2021 | The English-language film, a remake of the 2014 French-language film La Famille Bélier, features a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA for short), having culturally Deaf parents and brother. |
| Code Unknown | 2000 | In the French- and Romanian-language film, three hearing characters' lives intersect. One of the characters is a teacher at a school for deaf children, and one of his students is his little sister.<ref name="thomas" /><ref name="lerner" /> |
| Compensation | 1999 | The film features two love stories set in Chicago – one at the turn of the 20th century, the other in contemporary times. Both feature a deaf woman and a hearing man, played by Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks, respectively.<ref name="stewart" /><ref name="lerner" /> |
| Country of the Deaf | 1998 | The Russian film features two women; one is a deaf dancer, the other is fleeing from the mafia.<ref name="donmez-colin" /> |
| Crazy Moon | 1987 | The Canadian coming-of-age film features a hearing boy (Kiefer Sutherland) who falls in love with a deaf girl (Vanessa Vaughan) and attempts to woo her.<ref name="wilmington" /><ref name="lerner" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Creed | 2015 | While trying to follow in his late father's footsteps by training with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), the estranged son of Apollo Creed, Adonis Johnson-Creed (Michael B. Jordan), falls in love with a musician with progressive hearing loss named Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson).Template:Citation needed |
| Creed II | 2018 | Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) seeks revenge for his father's demise in a son-on-son fight against Viktor Drago. Bianca (Tessa Thompson) births a daughter who inherits her deafness.<ref name="lopez">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Dead Silence | 1997 | The American hostage drama, set in upstate New York, follows three hearing escaped convicts who hold hostage a bus of deaf students and a deaf teacher (played by deaf actor Marlee Matlin).<ref name="stratton" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears (or Los Amigos) | 1973 | The Spaghetti Western film features a deaf-mute gunfighter (played by hearing actor Anthony Quinn) who does not speak or sign; his partner, a hearing man, acts as his ears.<ref name="miller" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Deafula | 1975 | The horror film about a Deaf vampire is the first full-length feature film with dialogue exclusively in American Sign Language.<ref name="gross" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Dear Frankie | 2004 | The British drama film, directed by Shona Auerbach, features a nine-year-old deaf boy and his hearing mother, who are on the run. The boy wants to meet his father, but the mother wants to prevent this since her husband caused the boy's hearing loss at a young age.<ref name="ebert_dear_frankie" /> |
| Dummy | 1979 | The CBS television film, based on a book about a 1965 legal case, features an illiterate young deaf black man being charged for the murder of a prostitute. He is defended by a hard-of-hearing lawyer. The accused was played by LeVar Burton, and the lawyer was played by Paul Sorvino; both actors are hearing.<ref name="shales19790526" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Eternals | 2021 | In the superhero film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, deaf actor Lauren Ridloff portrays the superhuman Makkari. She is the first deaf superhero in the MCU.<ref name="mcphee" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2005 | The American dramedy film features a New England family who has a deaf son (played by deaf actor Ty Giordano). They communicate with him in American Sign Language.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="moore" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Feel the Beat | 2020 | A dance film featuring a small-town dance team with a deaf dancer (played by deaf actor Shaylee Mansfield), and she communicates with her team in American Sign Language.<ref name="deafchildren" /> |
| Feeling Through | 2019 | A homeless teen bonds with a deafblind man.<ref name="desantis">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Flesh and Fury | 1952 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| For the First Time | 1959 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Four Weddings and a Funeral | 1994 | The British romantic comedy film, directed by Mike Newell and written by Richard Curtis, features a hearing protagonist who has a deaf brother.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Gas Food Lodging | 1992 | The American drama film features a hearing female protagonist who gets a new hearing boyfriend and meets his deaf mother.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="hinson" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Gigot | 1962 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Godzilla vs. Kong | 2021 | In the monster movie featuring Godzilla and King Kong, a deaf girl (played by deaf actor Kaylee Hottle) forms a bond with Kong on Skull Island, communicating to him with sign language.<ref name="knight" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2006 | In the American spy film, the hearing protagonist (played by Matt Damon) enters a relationship with a deaf woman (played by hearing actor Tammy Blanchard). He leaves her after impregnating a hearing woman (played by Angelina Jolie), whom he eventually marries.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="von tunzelmann" /> |
| Grand Canyon | 1991 | The American drama film features an ensemble cast, including a hearing father (played by Danny Glover) who maintains a long-distance relationship with his deaf daughter by using a telecommunications device for the deaf.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="mathews" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2010 | The American biographical film features the deaf wrestler Matt Hamill, played by deaf actor Russell Harvard.<ref name="ryan" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Hear and Now | 2007 | The American documentary film, produced by HBO, features the director's deaf parents going through cochlear implant surgery at 65 years old.<ref name="debruge_hear_and_now" /> |
| Hear No Evil | 1993 | In the American thriller film, a deaf marathon runner (played by deaf actor Marlee Matlin) discovers a valuable coin and is pursued by hearing criminals.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="newman" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1968 | The American melodrama film, based on the 1940 novel of the same name, features a deaf-mute loner (played by hearing actor Alan Arkin) who influences the lives of others in a Southern town.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Helen Keller in Her Story | 1954 | The American documentary film features the deafblind figure Helen Keller. The film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1955.<ref name="guerrasio" /> |
| His Bodyguard | 1998 | A female security guard is hired to protect a deaf man who seeks to retrieve a migraine cure stolen from his father's chemical engineering firm. She falls in love with him along the way.<ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Hush | 2016 | The American horror film features a deaf woman living in a rural home (played by hearing actor Kate Siegel) who faces down a hearing killer after he breaks in.<ref name="snider" /> |
| I Don't Want to Talk About It | 1993 | The film, set in Argentina, features a hearing dwarf who, in her childhood, befriends a deaf girl.<ref name="lerner" /> |
| In the Land of the Deaf | 1992 | The French documentary film explores Deaf communities in France that use French Sign Language.<ref name="harrington" /> |
| Ingelore | 2009 | The American documentary film, produced by HBO, features the director's deaf mother, who was born to Jewish hearing parents in Germany in 1924 and escapes Nazi Germany.<ref name="collis" /> |
| Island Etude | 2006 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| It's All Gone Pete Tong | 2004 | The Canadian independent film is a mockumentary about an Ibiza-based disc jockey (played by hearing actor Paul Kaye) who goes deaf.<ref name="dargis" /> |
| Illtown | 1998 | The American drama film features a drug-dealing hearing couple who take in the man's runaway deaf brother.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="taylor" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Immortal Beloved | 1994 | The biographical film features composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven, who loses his hearing over time. Beethoven is played by hearing actor Gary Oldman.<ref name="rothstein" /> |
| In the Company of Men | 1997 | The black comedy film, featuring spoken English and American Sign Language, follows two hearing male white-collar workers (played by Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy) who target a deaf co-worker (played by hearing actor Stacy Edwards) to form romantic relationships with so that they can hurt her by breaking up with her afterward.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="ebert_in_the_company_of_men" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Iqbal | 2005 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| It's a Wonderful Life | 1947 | The American dramedy film follows hearing actor James Stewart's George Bailey, who is deaf in one ear. When he hugs the woman he loves, he cannot hear her reciprocation.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="filmsite" /> |
| It's My Party | 1996 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Jerry Maguire | 1996 | The American dramedy film features a hearing sports agent (played by Tom Cruise) and his hearing date (played by Renée Zellweger). They encounter a deaf couple in an elevator; one who signs "you complete me" to the other, and the agent later signs the same thing to his love.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="okwodu" /> |
| Johnny Belinda | 1948 | The American drama film, based on a stageplay by Elmer Harris, follows the deaf Belinda, played by hearing actor Jane Wyman, who lives on a farm in Nova Scotia. She attends a village dance after a recently arrived hearing doctor teaches her sign language; whereafter she is cornered and raped by a local hearing man.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="erickson" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Johnny Belinda | 1967 | The American TV Movie, based on a stage play by Elmer Harris, stars the deaf woman Belinda, played by hearing actor Mia Farrow. Belinda lives on a farm in Nova Scotia and is unable to communicate with others until a recently arrived hearing doctor teaches her sign language. She is raped by a local hearing man after going to a village dance.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="erickson" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Khamoshi: The Musical | 1996 | An Indian musical drama film which is the story about Joseph (Nana Patekar) and Flavy Braganza (Seema Biswas), a deaf couple in Goa.<ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Knowing | 2009 | The science fiction thriller film stars Nicolas Cage as a hearing father who faces an apocalyptic world and rescues his hearing daughter and deaf son.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="sharkey" /> |
| Koshish | 1972 | Considered a landmark movie in the history of Indian cinema, Koshish depicts a deaf couple (Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri) in a society desensitized to their struggles.Template:Citation needed |
| Kung Fu Hustle | 2004 | The Cantonese martial arts comedy film, produced by China and Hong Kong, features a deaf girl as the one social underdog who gets the protagonist to change sides.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="bettinson" /> |
| Lake Windfall | 2013 | The American independent film features five friends, three deaf, who go on a camping trip that becomes a disaster.<ref name="williams" /> |
| Land of Silence and Darkness | 1971 | The German documentary film, directed by Werner Herzog, features deafblind people and how they live and perceive life.<ref name="henderson" /> |
| Language Says It All | 1987 | The American short documentary film focuses on deaf children and their communication potential.<ref name="uw" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1991 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2005 | The American rom-com stars Ashton Kutcher as a hearing man developing a relationship with a hearing woman over seven years; deaf actor Ty Giordano plays his deaf brother.<ref name="bradshaw_a_lot_like_love" /> |
| Looking for Mr. Goodbar | 1977 | The American drama film features a hearing teacher of deaf children who goes clubbing in her free time.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="norden" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Love Is Never Silent | 1985 | The American TV film, set from 1931 to 1945, stars hearing actress Mare Winningham and deaf actors Phyllis Frelich and Ed Waterstreet as a young hearing woman and her deaf parents, respectively, who converse in sign language. The woman grows up learning how to balance her own needs with her parents'.<ref name="ryan" /><ref name="lopez-johnson" /><ref name="corry" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Man of a Thousand Faces | 1957 | The American film dramatizes the life of silent film actor Lon Chaney, whose pantomime artistry was based, in part, on growing up with two deaf parents who communicated by signing. In a subplot, Chaney's wife has a negative attitude toward her deaf in-laws and fears their child also will be deaf.<ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1932 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Mandy (also Crash of Silence) | 1952 | The British drama film features the titular deaf girl, Mandy (played by hearing actor Mandy Miller), being sent to a school for the deaf by her hearing mother, causing challenges in the family.<ref name="silveira" /><ref name="duguid" /><ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Marianna Ucrìa | 1997 | The Italian drama film features a deaf girl in 18th-century Sicily who is forced to marry an old Duke. As she gets older, a French tutor teaches her sign language, which she uses to gain independence and discover a dark truth from her childhood.<ref name="pyramide" /> |
| Marie's Story | 2014 | The French biographical film is based on the true story of Marie Heurtin, played by deaf actor Ariana Rivoire, a late 19th-century French deafblind girl taught how to read Braille and communicate in sign language by a nun.<ref name="o'sullivan20150521" /> |
| Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God | 2012 | American documentary following allegations of clerical sexual abuse at St. John's School for the Deaf. Features four of the victims. |
| Medeas | 2013 | The south California drama features a hearing man, a deaf woman (played by hearing actress Catalina Sandino Moreno), and their five children, whose cattle farm suffers a drought.<ref name="harvey" /> |
| Miracle on 34th Street | 1994 | The American Christmas film features a department store scene of a deaf signing girl (played by a deaf actress) sitting on Kris Kringle's lap. She is surprised when he responds in sign language himself.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="malham" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1962 | The film features the deafblind Helen Keller (played by hearing actor Patty Duke) and her teacher Anne Sullivan.<ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1979 | The film features the deafblind Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan.<ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2000 | The film features the deafblind Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan. |
| Misjudged People | 1932 | The German documentary film features the German deaf community at the time of production. It was produced by the Reich Union of the Deaf of Germany to give the German public a positive perception of the capabilities of deaf people. It was banned by the Nazis in 1934 to avoid promoting that perception.<ref name="schuchman_2002" /> |
| Mom and Dad Can't Hear Me | 1978 | The American TV film, part of the anthology series ABC Afterschool Special, features a 14-year-old girl who moves to a new town with her deaf parents. She is ashamed of their deafness and lies to her classmates so they do not know about or meet her parents.<ref name="lopez-johnson" /><ref name="shales19780405" /> |
| Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements | 2019 | The documentary, composed in three parts, explores three generations of deaf people.<ref name="o'sullivan20190925" /> |
| Mr. Holland's Opus | 1995 | The American drama film features a hearing high school music teacher who aspires to compose music. He and his hearing wife have a deaf son, whom the teacher finds hard to accept due to the impossibility of his son hearing his intended composition. The teacher grows to accept his son as well as his own life.<ref name="ryan" /><ref name="ebert_mr_hollands_opus" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Murder by Death | 1976 | The American murder mystery parody film features a dinner party with an ensemble cast, including an illiterate deaf-mute cook (played by hearing actor Nancy Walker).<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="canby" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Music Within | 2007 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| My Father Die | 2017 | <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> |
| Nashville | 1975 | The American dramedy, about country people and gospel music businesses, features an ensemble cast that includes a hearing gospeler who is the mother of two deaf children.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="koresky" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie | 2013 | The American independent comedy-drama film features a Deaf actor who plays a superhero on a TV show. He meets a Deaf boy and works to inspire him.<ref name="rt_no_ordinary_hero" /> |
| No Road Back | 1957 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| No Way Out | 1950 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Orphan | 2009 | A psychological horror movie that features a couple intent on adopting the titular orphan; the couple has two other children, a hearing son and a deaf daughter.<ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Out of the Past | 1947 | Classic Noir film starring Robert Mitchum. A man in hiding from the mob befriends a deaf kid, played by hearing actor Dickie Moore, who helps him in a key scene. |
| Template:Sortname | 2019 | The thriller film features a fugitive who hides on a family farm in the U.S. state of North Dakota; he befriends a deaf boy played by deaf actor Danny Murphy.<ref name="galuppo" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1997 | The Bosnian war drama features a hearing poet who helps two boys, one hearing and one deaf, during the Siege of Sarajevo.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="riding" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Pocketful of Miracles | 1961 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Psych-Out | 1968 | In the American counterculture film, 17-year-old deaf runaway Jenny (played by hearing actor Susan Strasberg) travels to San Francisco to find her brother; pursued by authorities, and befriending members of a psychedelic band, she gets involved in the city's hippie scene before finding her him.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="stafford" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2005 | The American thriller film features a teenage girl (played by hearing actor Camilla Belle), who has been deaf and silent since the age of seven; she is orphaned and moves in with her hearing godparents. She is bullied by their hearing daughter, though the two eventually find common ground.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="rooney" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2018 | The horror film features a deaf girl (played by deaf actor Millicent Simmonds) and her hearing family, who have to stay quiet on a remote farm to avoid attracting dark forces.<ref name="romano" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2021 | The horror sequel to A Quiet Place (2018) sees the young deaf actress above reprise her role in the post-apocalyptic world of creatures who hunt by sound.<ref name="kit" /> |
| Rangasthalam | 2018 | In the Indian Telugu-language period action-drama film, the Protagonist (played by hearing actor Ram Charan) is partially deaf and does not want to use a hearing aid.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Read My Lips | 2001 | The French thriller film features a female hard-of-hearing office worker who wants to help a hearing ex-convict.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="ebert_read_my_lips" /> |
| Requiem for a Dream | 2000 | In the American psychological drama film, one of the hearing protagonists encounters a speaking-signing deaf drug dealer.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="evening_standard" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Resident Evil: Retribution | 2012 | The fifth part of the Resident Evil Saga features a girl named Becky (played by Deaf actress Aryana Engineer), a clone of Alice who playing the role of suburban-Alice-clone's deaf daughter. She is later rescued by our primary Alice clone. |
| Ridicule | 1996 | The French drama film, set in the late 18th century, features hearing aristocrats who attempt to humiliate each other. In one scene, a group of deaf people are mocked by the aristocrats, but the group winds up having the last laugh.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="maslin_ridicule" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1994 | The American thriller film features a family on a rafting trip who have to face a pair of armed killers. The mother of the family, Gail, is a teacher of deaf students, so she knows sign language and uses it to communicate surreptitiously.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="maslin_the_river_wild" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| See No Evil, Hear No Evil | 1989 | The American comedy film features a blind man (Richard Pryor) and a deaf man (played by hearing actor Gene Wilder) to stop three murderous thieves.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="lopez-johnson" /><ref name="armstrong" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| See What I Say | 1981 | The American short documentary film features deaf women who discuss their use of sign language. |
| See What I'm Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary | 2009 | The American documentary film explores the careers of four deaf entertainers: standup comic CJ Jones, HIV-positive actor Robert DeMayo, drummer Bob Hiltermann of the all-deaf band Beethoven's Nightmare, and singer/actress TL Forsberg.<ref name="barker" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1965 | The Czechoslovak drama film set in the Slovak State during World War II features a shop owned by a mostly deaf elderly Jewish woman. Her friends pay a carpenter to be her co-worker so she is not deported to a concentration camp.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="tatara" /> |
| Sicario: Day of the Soldado | 2018 | The crime film features one of the main (hearing) characters interacting with a deaf man in Mexican Sign Language; the film reveals that the main character had a deaf daughter, which is how he knew LSM.<ref name="matheus" /> |
| Sierra Burgess Is a Loser | 2018 | The American comedy film features the hearing teenage girl pretending to be deaf when meeting a hearing love interest in person, but the love interest recognizes her sign language because his brother is deaf (and played by deaf actor Cochise Zornoza).<ref name="sharf" /> |
| Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes | 2017 | The Italian and American superhero film features Deaf superheroes who can actualize superpowers with signs. The story centers on a Deaf agent from New York City (played by deaf actor Emilio Insolera). A carrier of a powerful genetic mutation, he is sent to Japan with his colleague to investigate some intriguing crimes committed by Japanese Deaf mutants.<ref name="cantarini"/> |
| Template:Sortname | 2019 | The American horror film, based on a book by Tim Lebbon, features a deaf girl (played by hearing actor Kiernan Shipka) in a world of monsters.<ref name="roxborough" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2017 | A four year old profoundly deaf girl is silent until she is taught sign language by a social worker. Won the Live Action Short Film category at the 90th Academy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Template:Sortname | 2019 | The Spanish film, set during World War II, features Asier Etxeandia as a soldier in Spain who becomes deaf and has to survive a manhunt.<ref name="hopewell" /> |
| Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story | 1979 | Documentary of the eponymous deaf stuntwoman.<ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2016 | The Japanese anime film features a young hearing man who tracks down a deaf signing woman whom he had bullied in elementary school to try make amends with her.<ref name="mintzer" /> In the English language dub, the girl, Shoko, is voiced by deaf actress Lexi Cowden. |
| Sincerely Yours | 1955 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Sound and Fury | 2000 | An American documentary film about two brothers, one Deaf and one hearing, and their families. The Deaf brother has a deaf wife and daughter; while he despises cochlear implants, his daughter wants one. The hearing brother has a hearing wife and a deaf baby. The film explores the impact of cochlear implants with regard to Deaf Culture.<ref name="ryan" /><ref name="lasalle" /> |
| Sound of Metal | 2019 | An American drama film starring hearing actor Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who loses his hearing.<ref name="clement" /> |
| Soundtrack | 2011 | Bollywood remake of It's All Gone Pete Tong, using the same premise of a DJ who goes deaf. |
| Speakeasy | 2002 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Speed 2: Cruise Control | 1997 | |
| Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World | 2011 | Cecil is hearing impaired and uses hearing aids. |
| Template:Sortname | 2018 | The American romantic drama film about two musicians in love features one of them having noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.<ref name="avril" /> |
| Stille Liebe | 2001 | The Swiss film features a signing deaf nun who travels from her German convent to the city to work at a center for the homeless. She meets a signing deaf man and falls in love with him. The man, who turns out to be a pickpocket, is killed by the police. The nun resolves to move to the United States to become an actor.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="tcm_stille_liebe" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1939 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 1957 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Suspect | 1987 | The American courtroom drama film stars Cher as a hearing public defender assigned to a deaf bum (played by hearing actor Liam Neeson) who is arrested for the murder of a Washington legal secretary.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="ebert_suspect" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Sweet Nothing in My Ear | 2008 | The American television film, part of the anthology program Hallmark Hall of Fame, features a couple, a hearing man and a deaf woman (played by deaf actor Marlee Matlin), who have an eight-year-old son who is gradually losing his hearing. While the mother assumes the family will use sign language, a doctor who sees the son recommends for the father to look into cochlear implants. The parents begin fighting with each other about raising their son, and it leads to a court battle for custody.<ref name="hinckley" /> |
| Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance | 2002 | The South Korean thriller film features a deaf man working in a factory who then becomes involved with illegal organ transplantation, kidnapping, and murder.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="bowyer" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Take Shelter | 2011 | The American psychological drama film features a Midwestern family man who has apocalyptic visions and starts building a storm shelter for his family. His daughter is deaf, and he and his wife desperately try to get a cochlear implant for her.<ref name="hornaday" /> |
| The Little Death | 2014 | The Australian sex comedy deals with the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney, revealing both the fetishes and the repercussions that come with sharing them. One of them is VRS agent who relays the call between the deaf caller who signs in Auslan and the hearing phone sex worker. |
| There Will Be Blood | 2007 | The American historical drama film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a hearing oilman whose son goes deaf due to a gas blowout. The oilman sends his son to a school for the deaf. Later in the film, he sees his adult son (played by deaf actor Russell Harvard) who now knows sign language and marries a woman who also knows sign language.<ref name="lerner" /> |
| Think Me Nothing | 1975 | ref. |
| Tin Man | 1983 | The American drama film stars hearing actor Timothy Bottoms as a deaf auto mechanic who invents a computer allowing him to hear and speak. He tries to get his invention produced, but is undermined by a salesman.<ref name="tcm_tin_man" /> |
| To Live (also Lifelines) | 1994 | The Chinese drama film features a Chinese couple who have a son and daughter. The daughter loses her hearing as a result of an illness.<ref name="lerner" /><ref name="james_to_live" /><ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Touch the Sound | 2004 | The German documentary film is about profoundly deaf Scottish classical percussionist Evelyn Glennie.<ref name="ebert_touch_the_sound" /> |
| Template:Sortname | 2014 | The Ukrainian drama film features teenage gangsters at a school for the deaf. Ukrainian Sign Language is shown between the characters, but with no voiceover or subtitles.<ref name="khazan" /> |
| Through Deaf Eyes | 2007 | The American documentary, produced by PBS, explores the lives of Deaf people in the United States in the past 200 years.<ref name="ryan" /> |
| Tommy | 1975 | British satirical operetta fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album Tommy about a "psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind" boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. |
| Universal Signs | 2008 | The American drama film features a deaf artist who blames himself for the death of his fiancée's daughter and struggles to recover.<ref name="rt_universal_signs" /> |
| Unsound | 2020 | Australian drama about a romance between a musician and a deaf trans man (played by deaf performer Yiana Pandelis). |
| Up | 2009 | Carl wears hearing aids and uses them to ignore Russell. |
| Voices | 1979 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Walker | 1987 | <ref name="lerner_sayers" /> |
| Wedding of Silence | 2004 | The Russian documentary film features a monochromatic wedding in the Deaf community of Saint Petersburg.<ref name="kviff" /> |
| What the Bleep Do We Know!? | 2004 | This American movie about quantum mysticism blends narrative, documentary, and animation cinematographies. The film features Marlee Matlin as the deaf photographer who explores the spiritual connection between quantum physics and consciousness.<ref name="lerner" /> |
| Where the Truth Lies (a.k.a. Ninety Days at Hollyridge) | 1999 | <ref name="armstrong" /> |
| Wild Prairie Rose | 2016 | American drama film directed by Deborah LaVine. In 1952, Rose Miller returns to her rural hometown of Beresford, South Dakota to care for her ailing mother. Once there, she falls in love with a deaf man (played by deaf actor Troy Kotsur) and must decide if she has the courage to follow her heart.<ref name="Provost" /> |
| Wonderstruck | 2017 | The American drama film, directed by Todd Haynes and based on the juvenile fiction novel of the same name, features two children in separate time periods (1927 and 1977) whose storylines interweave. One child is deaf and played by deaf actor Millicent Simmonds, and the other is partly deaf and played by hearing actor Oakes Fegley.<ref name="lincoln" /> |
| World of Delight | 2015 | Japanese youth romance film directed by Template:Interlanguage link multi and based on the novel Template:Interlanguage link multi by Hiro Arikawa about a blog writer Hitomi Rika that refuses to meet Sakisaka Nobuyuki, a salaryman she's been exchanging emails with, because of her secret of being hard of hearing. |
| You'd Be Surprised | 1926 | ref. |
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See also
These films feature characters who pretend to be deaf or hard of hearing:
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), an American comedy-drama film based on the 1962 novel of the same name which is set in a mental institution and features a Native American side character who is believed to be a deafmute, until revealed otherwise.<ref name="lerner" />
- What the Deaf Man Heard (1997), an American television film set in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1945 in which the hearing protagonist lives in a town for 20 years pretending to be deaf.<ref name="james_what_the_deaf_man_heard" />
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References
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
