Rocky Mountain
Deaf Film Festival
Sunday, March 30th @ 12pm - 4pm
ASL Literature films: 12pm - 1:45pm
TIR
Synopsis:
“TIR”, which means “truck” in Polish, is a short story about how small decisions, fractions of a second, can affect people’s lives.
A man crosses the street, gets into his truck, and sets out on the road. After a while, he notices a pretty woman. The author gives us two options to complete this story: one in which the man decides to pursue the woman he meets, and the other in which he does not show any interest. As it turns out later, this small decision may determine the fate of the life of an innocent little girl walking on the crosswalk eating ice cream.
A Film by Edyta Kozub
Polish Eagle
Synopsis:
Polish Eagle – is a short story about how Poles fought for freedom. It is also a story commemorating the soldiers of the independence underground.
Initially, an eagle flies over Poland. On the ground, soldiers bravely fight: infantry, tankers and military pilots. The world was at war. The war for Poland regaining freedom ends with symbolic driving of the flag into the ground by a tired soldier. Finally, the eagle can rest proudly on liberated Polish land.
A Film by Edyta Kozub
Goldilocks and The Three Bears
Synopsis:
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Adapted by Vicki Nordquist
One of the VQUIST Deaf tales in Vicki’s world.
This story shows that each character represents the power of the (their) emotions to express the communication needs.
A Film by Vicki Norquist
Pumpkin Head Boy
Synopsis:
As the pumpkin-headed boy approached the neighborhood doorsteps, his costume drew gasps of amazement and admiration from residents, but behind the festive façade lay a silent mystery that intrigued those who encountered him.
A Film by Patrick Fischer
Lego House
Synopsis:
A high school boy is eagerly awaiting his graduation, but he has a habit of oversleeping late into the day, which frustrates his father. One Saturday afternoon, he wakes up late, only to find his family missing. He searches the house in confusion, but there’s no sign of them anywhere. As he starts to play video games alone in the family room, the house begins to shake violently. After a strange and unsettling series of events, it becomes clear that he has been lost in a dream—or something else entirely—where the line between reality and imagination blurs.
A Film by Patrick Fischer
The Red Door
Synopsis:
A magical adventure awaits! Manny & Sister Bonnie, curious cousins, discover a forbidden Red Door at Grandma's house. Opening it unleashes wild adventures, but can they escape before Grandma finds out?
A Film By Manny Hernandez
Day of the Dead
Synopsis:
Born and raised of Mexican descent, this is a cultural video surrounding the traditional celebration of the Day of the Dead. A number story, 1 - 10 reveals how we invoke our ancestors and honor our roots, remembering that we are because they were.
A Film by Rachella Ortiz
Stomp Out Bullying
Synopsis:
This is a handshape one story whose protagonist is a very-young girl with braided-hair, skipping along while having a lovely day. Meanwhile, she spots a very muscular boy bullying someone else and decides to do something about it by putting a stop to the bullying incident. In the end, she stamps out bullying by teaching him a valuable lesson with her amazing ability of martial arts and resumes her lovely day by skipping away.
A Film by Joseph Davis
Re:Growth
Synopsis:
The hearing community has, through the course of history, treated the Deaf community as a particularly undesirable species of weed. Hearing aids, cochlear implants, speech education, the marginalization of signed languages, sterilization programs, and now even the use of CRISPR gene splicing technology, are all attempts to remove or correct the Deaf weeds in humanity’s garden. Crab theory is a major and ongoing discussion in the Deaf community due to the intensity of the internalized oppression felt by group insiders who have often been intentionally isolated from their peers and language models. This poem uses the metaphor of unwanted weeds as a way to process that history and reframe the community as a stubbornly resilient population, capable of growth and beauty.
A Film by Douglas Ridloff
Animation/Experimental films
Shutdown
Synopsis:
The deaf skilled worker from Germany lived and worked in the western United States and used his car to get to work. What's new is that this connected car was built specifically for the deaf. The immature technology was fatal, can he find an alternative?
A Film by Christopher Buhr
A Visual Meditation on Natural Gestures
Synopsis:
Filmed during a period of civic unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic, a Deaf woman takes a meditative journey through America and discovers universal gestures within the natural environment that brings her peace, humor, and awe.
A Film by Willey Conley
Ghost Sandwich
Synopsis:
A deaf woman struggles to order a sandwich.
A Film by Lymon Thorn
Nistobdher Barnamala
Synopsis:
A Film by Arjun Adhikary, Ashmita Paul
Comedy/short films : 2pm - 3:15pm
The Rad Scientist
Synopsis:
It's New Year's Eve, 1987, and a quantum research scientist has finally gotten her secret portal mechanism to work...with a few rad quirks.
A Film by Megan Clancy
Silent Courage
Synopsis:
Noah is a 17-year-old high school student who confronts his deaf insecurities after wanting to ask a girl to the winter dance. He decides that he will try his hearing aids and speech therapy again. After struggling, he gives up and decides not to go to the winter dance. However, his mom won’t let that happen and encourages him to go. He builds courage in the car and manages to gain the confidence to talk to the girl. Upon approaching her, he discovers that she has learned sign language so that she could communicate with him.
A Film by Matthew Bacher
Miles In Love
Synopsis:
Miles, a deaf man that goes through a one-of-a-kind night with his friends after a smoke went wrong, but he might just finds love between the crazy happenings.
A Film by Martina Bell
The Koda-Chrome (W)rapper
Synopsis:
A Deaf single mother lately finds herself having trouble bonding with her teenaged, hearing son who is a KODA (Kid of Deaf Adults). With goals to become a rapper, he is often seen alone in his room with a small, makeshift sound recording set-up and laptop creating songs and videos.
A Film by Willey Conley