Thanks to Daphna’s Israeli Society class at Ramaz, we went with her to see the Israeli documentary Voices from el-Sayed. Really first-rate. Somehow, in the space of 75 minutes, it manages to give hearing people a glimpse into the lives of the deaf. From the website:
In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert lays the Bedouin village of El-Sayed. It has the largest percentage of deaf people in the world. Still, no hearing aids can be seen because in El-Sayed deafness is not a handicap. Through the generations a unique sign language has evolved making it the most popular language in this rare society that accepts deafness as natural as life itself. The village`s tranquility is interrupted by Salim`s decision to change his deaf son’s fate and make him a hearing person using the Cochlear Implant Operation.
