Friday, March 29

Oscar Awards: “It is a joy for deaf people that ‘CODA’ has won the Oscar”


Many people, in parts of the world as distant from each other as the United States and Extremadura, were delighted this Monday to learn that the Oscar for best film was won by a story about the day-to-day life of deaf people. Like a majority in Spain, Maite Berrocoso has not seen ‘CODA’: The Sounds of Silence ‘(Siân Heder), but her triumph has pleased her in a special way. She is the president of the Association of Deaf People of Cáceres, and she believes that winning the world’s most famous film awards can “help give deaf people more visibility.” In addition, she notices a fact that has perhaps gone unnoticed by most. «It is equally important –she points out Berrocoso– that the award for best supporting actor has also gone to a deaf person».

The president of the
Association Troy Kotsur from Cáceres, the second deaf person to win this award, pioneered by Marlee Matlin, who won it in 1987 with ‘Children of a Minor God’ (Randa Haines, 1986). Kotsur now achieves it for his role in a film that he also won in the category of best adapted screenplay. ‘CODA: The Sounds of Silence’ tells the story of Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only one who can hear in a family where everyone is deaf. The teenager is a pillar for her family. Every morning, before going to class, she goes to the business between her parents and her brother, an existence that will take a turn when someone discovers her musical talent and encourages her to develop it.

There is a scene in the trailer for the film that Maite Berrocoso considers particularly illustrative. In it, a teacher asks the protagonist how she feels when she sings, and she answers in sign language, because this is her mother tongue. That response “shows that it is possible to live with two cultures”, appreciates the president of the Association of deaf people of Cáceres, who recalls how important it is to help give visibility to a group “that is often invisible to a majority of society ».

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At the library or at the doctor

“Deaf people do not carry a cane or a wheelchair, and this means that sometimes others do not realize who they are interacting with,” summarizes Berrocoso, who gives some examples that illustrate to what extent this can be a handicap in daily life.

'Windshield wipers', an Oscar with Extremadura signature

«In the library –says the president– storytelling is organized to which the children go, and if they are deaf, they cannot participate if there is no one who expresses himself in sign language. It also happens, to give another example, that you are in a medical consultation for a problem of anxiety or depression, and even if there is an interpreter, it is difficult for the professional to receive all the complete information he needs to know the customs, identity, values ​​or the culture of the person you are to care for and help.

In his opinion, “there is a general lack of knowledge about what it means to be deaf.” For this reason, “it seems important to us that the Oscar for best film was for a film that talks about deaf people.” “It’s a joy,” concludes Maite Berrocoso, who believes that ‘CODA: The sounds of silence’ can help give more visibility to a group in need of it, and to which a million people belong in Spain alone.


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