Rebecca A Withey: A review of documentary Name Me Lawand (BSL)

Name Me Lawand is a film by writer and director Edward Lovelace. It tells the story of Lawand Hamad Amin, a young deaf Kurdish boy who arrives in England without language and eventually finds his identity and ‘voice’ after settling into a deaf school in Derby and learning BSL.

Lawand comes across as a bright, resilient young boy who experiences the trauma of leaving his home country with his family and endures the added challenge of being bullied at a young age due to his deafness. It is Lawand’s older brother, Rawa, who tells us the most about Lawand’s journey and Rawa’s protectiveness towards his younger brother is really heartwarmingly evident.

We see glimpses of Lawand’s dialogue throughout the film yet it is at the very end that we see how natural and confident his communication skills have become. The change in Lawand is subtle but still there nonetheless, his eyes look less troubled and he smiles, laughs and plays with his new school friends in the carefree spirit every child should have.

Although I loved watching Lawand’s journey, for me personally, the film wasn’t always executed in the most accessible way. For example, although it is described as a documentary, the film feels more akin to a dramatic retelling. There is a dreamy quality to the film, as it repeatedly makes use of visual imagery to portray the metaphors and themes that the film touches on quite literally.

Instead of following a linear journey the film also shifts forwards and backwards in time and is organised in thematic chapters. We see harrowing footage of Lawand’s time in a refugee camp, intimate conversations he has with his brother, Rawa, and playtime with his new best friends at school.

We hear from Lawand’s brother often throughout the film, and he explains how he often felt he wanted to take his brother to another world because this world wasn’t made for them. It’s a terribly sad sentiment and one that’s taken quite literally as the film transports us to outer space to emphasise feeling as though one doesn’t belong on this Earth.

Whilst much of the imagery and cut aways used in the film are beautiful and poetic, as a deaf person I felt there was often too much ‘visual noise.’ Scenes would often cut away to streams of water, grassy fields or windy sand dunes. As a result, there was often – for me – a confused energy on the screen and an interrupted pace.

The same issue arose when the film played voiceovers spoken by Lawand’s parents but without them appearing on the screen. Reading the voiceover captions whilst nature scenes were played felt jarring for my eyes and brain. I wanted to see the expression on the parents faces to fully understand the words I was reading. Perhaps it’s due to being deaf that I like to see who is speaking.

There was one deaf producer involved in the film but I wonder whether a deaf editor would’ve understood the importance of visual clarity and used less metaphorical pictures. Just the act of seeing a person speak rather than just playing a transcript would have made it more accessible for me.

The film also employs well known deaf actress Sophie Stone to play Lawand’s “teacher” – a character which unfortunately for me doesn’t quite feel real. Big questions are asked by her character such as “what does language mean to you?” and I find myself thinking what a difficult question that would be, even for a hearing child to ponder.

Such scenes didn’t work for me as they felt unnatural and unfortunately staged. However, convincing moments are achieved when we see actual teachers from the Royal School of the Deaf, which Lawand attends, and how patiently and clearly they interact with him. It was this sense of naturalness and capturing genuine moments that I felt I wanted more of in order to see the ‘real’ Lawand.

One memorable moment where this does happen is when Lawand and his family attend a BSL rally for the first time in London and Lawand witnesses crowds of deaf people signing in protest to protect BSL.

The sense of awe and of finally belonging was clear in Lawand’s eyes and the smile on his face left me with goosebumps. This was a magical moment for Lawand and it really shone through.

Another important part was also the beautiful home video shown at the end of the film. Here we see Lawand’s reaction to being told his family are not being deported and that he can stay with his new friends at his new school.

It was a simple, honest, and powerful scene and I felt genuinely delighted for Lawand that he now gets the opportunity to enjoy his childhood and make the most of life now that he has a language.

The tale of Lawand is a very valuable story to learn about and incredibly worthy of the screen time. Yet the style in which the film was executed and edited was unfortunately not always to my taste. Why don’t you see it for yourself?

Name Me Lawand is still showing in cinemas and will be released on BFI Player on the 21st August.

Rebecca Anne Withey is a freelance writer with a background in Performing Arts & Holistic health. She is also profoundly deaf, a sign language user and pretty great lipreader. She writes on varied topics close to her heart in the hope that they may serve to inspire others.