Vying for the Berlinale Panorama’s prestigious audience award, Eva Libertad’s “Deaf” (“Sorda”) sheds light on the world of deaf women and how motherhood shapes their relationships.
Picked up by Latido Films in December, Libertad’s debut feature is an expansion of the eponymous Goya-nominated short she co-directed with Nuria Muñoz, starring her sister Miriam Garlo, an acclaimed deaf actress. In an interview with Variety, Libertad details how “Deaf” was a lifetime in the making:
“‘Deaf’ was born from the moment when my sister was considering becoming a mother. At that time, she shared her fears as a deaf woman with me, and I realized that I had never thought about it before: the concerns of a deaf woman who wants to be a mother in a hearing world.”
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“At that moment, I figured out that, in addition to the insecurities we have as women, there are others related to deafness that I hadn’t considered before,” she says, adding: “So I asked her to put those fears in writing and a few days later she sent me a list of them, which made a big impression on me. From that list came the short film ‘Sorda,’ which ended up becoming this feature film.”
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However, she points out that “Deaf” is a fictional film: “It’s not based on my sister’s life. In fact, I interviewed deaf mothers to know what were their worries and fears during their pregnancies. If they shared them with their partners, how motherhood changed their relationship with their partner or with their parents, what were the difficulties in communicating with the baby. They also told me their experiences during labor that, in some cases, were way harder than what can be seen in the film.”
Armed with a wealth of material, she chose what details would work best for the fictional couple in her story which centers on Ángela, a deaf woman played by Garlo, who is expecting a child with her hearing partner, Héctor (Álvaro Cervantes, “Adu,” “Ramón y Ramón”). The baby’s arrival strains their relationship, compelling Ángela to face the challenges of raising her daughter in a world that isn’t quite built for her.
She chose “Deaf” to be her first feature film in order to “explore the complexity of the bond between the deaf and the hearing worlds: the positive and negative aspects, connection and love, but also the conflicts and clashes.”
“It’s something that has been essential in my life for being Miriam’s sister and that, nowadays, after a lifetime with us, keeps changing its shape and being a challenge; a mystery that we must figure out and work on daily,” she said, adding: “That’s why Miriam and I always say that we have been preparing our whole lives to make this film without even realizing it.”
Aside from being a screenwriter, director and playwright, Libertad has a degree in sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid, which has helped her provide more layers of depth to her characters.
“As well as creating the psychology of the character, I try to contextualize them in the situation they are in. In Angela’s case, she lives in an ableist society, which turns its back on disabilities. I think Angela is ready for the world, but the world is not ready for her.”
She points to the scenes with babies as the most difficult to shoot. “For Ona’s character, the little girl, we needed seven babies, from the time she was a newborn until she was a year old,” she recalls.
“In the scenes where we had babies, they set the pace and the whole crew had to be at their service, of course. The shooting plan that my cinematographer and I had devised didn’t work, because the baby would burst into tears or do something unexpected. Which, on the other hand, was wonderful, because it brought so much life to the scenes,” she adds.
Asked if she already has her next feature film in mind, she replies: “Yes, I’m already thinking about the next project, although I would like to have time to create it calmly…what I do know for sure is that I would love to work again with my sister.”
