Vilma Jackson: Why I created ‘Triple Oppression’ – available to view online now

My father is British, and my mother is from Mozambique both of them are hearing. I was born in Mozambique and moved to Portugal when I was eight years old where I attended a mainstream school there. At the age of 13, I attended a Deaf school in the UK.

I am fluent in British Sign Language. I also communicate with my mother’s side of the family who use Portuguese. My father’s side speaks English.  When I moved to the Deaf school in England I really enjoyed this because the communication was easy – everyone used BSL, and the accessibility was great.

Since then I have been a performing artist for eleven years, doing a variety of things including film, theatre, music, TV presenting and other fields. I would say that I have loved the variety of experiences gained by working on so many fantastic projects.

I’m hoping in the future to create more of my own work, developing my creative writing skills. I would like to direct projects and involve other performers.

I’m now starting to write and produce my own work. My latest project ‘Triple Oppression’ is my debut as a writer, producer/director.

Watch Triple Oppression below:

My reasons for making Triple Oppression are several. As a child, I watched so many artists in this medium that inspired me, actors both on TV and in films. And without the total encouragement and support of my parents, I would not be the person I am today. My parents gave me the ability to follow these dreams, and I feel blessed that they never told me I could not do anything because I was Deaf.

Triple Oppression is filmed BSL poetry; I wrote, produced and edited the film. I was lucky enough to receive funding for this which was a learning experience. Funding can be very hard work, because you have to do so much research and finding the correct grant to suit your project is difficult but in the end it is so very rewarding. Perseverance is key.

I want people to watch the film, Triple Oppression without knowing exactly what it is about so they can learn, experience the video and take their own message from it. The film has themes of intersectional oppression, so when people watch, they will feel empathy to these issues. Your gender, race or disability does not matter, you will be able to relate to these societal barriers.

After viewing the film I hope people find the fire inside themselves and don’t allow society to stop them achieving. I want people to be fierce, in a positive way.

It is my ultimate aim to be a role model for future generations. So, they believe in themselves by celebrating our differences and moving towards a more equitable society. Going forward from this my aim is to create more projects under the umbrella of Vilma Jackson Productions and I hope to explore my own creativity further.

Find out more about Vilma’s work on her Facebook page.