The Deaffest festival took place in Wolverhampton at the weekend, with To Know Him by director Ted Evans the big winner on the night at the festival’s Film and TV awards.
The film, about a deaf woman having to meet her partner’s hearing father after his sudden death, won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress – with Jemma Joyce winning the prize for her performance as lead character Susan.
Responding on Twitter, Ted – who couldn’t attend the ceremony on Saturday – said:
“Thank you to Deaffest, the judges, BSL Zone for backing the film and everyone involved in making it. I’m absolutely delighted for Jemma, who is now an award winning actress. I hope everyone had a great festival & that the films went down well.”
Sketch comedy series Deaf Funny won the Best Television Programme award, with writer director Charlie Swinbourne accepting the award on stage.
Charlie, who also edits The Limping Chicken, said he was “really honoured” to win the award, thanking BSLBT for commissioning the programme and the cast and crew, in particular the actors who supported the development of the programme long before it was commissioned.
Dot, the drama-documentary about the life and career of sign language poet Dot Miles, won the screenwriting award for John Maidens, who dedicated the award to her memory.
The festival also marked a breakthrough moment for William Grint, who is well known as a Deaf actor. Grint won the Best Short Film award for his short Ava, which he also starred in.
The full list of winners from the gala were as follows:
- Best Actor: Joël Chalude, Faking A Living
- Best Actress: Jemma Joyce, To Know Him
- Best Screenwriter:John Maidens, Dot
- Best UK Short Film: Ava
- Best Director: Ted Evans, To Know Him
- Best International Short Film: This is Ed!
- Best Documentary: Deaf Child
- Best Artistic Short Film: The Gingerbread Witch
- Best Television Programme: Deaf Funny 3
- Best Film: To Know Him
More information about Deaffest can be found on the festival’s official website.
By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and makes the occasional video about deaf awareness on his YouTube channel. He can also be found talking about disability, politics, theatre, books and music on his Twitter, and on his website.
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Posted on May 20, 2019 by Liam O'Dell