Charlie Swinbourne: Watch my new documentary Found in the UK on TV and online tonight (BSL)

Posted on September 1, 2016 by



Last year, I made a documentary called Found, which featured three Deaf people telling their stories of how they discovered the Deaf world, sign language and a new community for the first time.

To watch Charlie signing about the new programme, click play below:

Most Deaf people are not born to Deaf parents, and the Deaf world is often something they discover later in life, whether at school, their local Deaf club or through meeting a Deaf person.

Ever since I was born, Deaf people have told me their stories of discovering the Deaf community and Found was an attempt to capture just how special finding a new world is to Deaf people, and how their lives changed when they found somewhere they felt they belonged.

The three people featured in the first episode of Found discovered the Deaf world through attending a leadership course, going to a theatre show and going to a Deaf university for the summer. Their stories were told straight to camera, and I was really pleased when the programme got positive feedback.

When it came to making two new episodes, I wanted to try and give each episode a theme.

Found in the UK, as the name suggests, is about Deaf people who were born abroad, and discovered the Deaf community here in Britain. I wanted to explore the differences between attitudes to deafness here and in other countries, and to find out what my contributors gained when they came here.

The three people featured come from three different countries. Ahmed Mudawi is originally from Sudan, Dani Sive is from South Africa, and Mangai Sutharsan is from Sri Lanka. Each of them tell us about their early memories and about their discovery of a new culture.

I could say more here about making the programme but do look out for one very emotional conversation towards the end of the programme.

I hope you’ll watch it tonight, on TV or online, and let me know what you think. And look out for Found in Love, about Deaf people finding the Deaf world when they fell in love, later this autumn!

Found in the UK can be seen today at 7.30pm, either online on the BSL Zone website (click here for the homepage) or on TV at the following times (there are also screenings on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday):

• Thursday 1st September at 7.30pm on the Community Channel (Sky 539, Virgin 269, Freesat 651)
• Saturday 3rd September at 7.30am on the Community Channel (Freeview 63, Sky 539, Virgin 269, Freesat 651)
• Monday 5th September at 8am on Film4 (Freeview 15, Sky 315, Virgin 428, Freesat 300)
• Tuesday 6th September at 2pm on the Community Channel (Sky 539, Virgin 269, Freesat 651)
Charlie is the editor of Limping Chicken, as well as being an award-winning filmmaker. He has just completed two new episodes of his documentary,  Found, about Deaf identity. He previously wrote and directed the comedies The Kissand Four Deaf Yorkshiremen go to Blackpool along with other film and TV credits. As a journalist, he has written for the Guardian and BBC Online.

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Posted in: bsl translation, charlie swinbourne