For as long as I can remember, storytelling has ignited a deep sense of excitement within me. Growing up in a creative family of painters, academics, filmmakers, photographers and chefs, I was constantly surrounded by a rich mix of artistic media, all of which have shaped how I see and move through the world. Personally, I have always loved stories from real people. While I appreciate the imaginative worlds that fiction offers, I have always felt that the greatest stories are right in front of us, just waiting to be uncovered.
In 2018, while working as a marketing intern for the Sydney Film Festival’s Screenability program, I met Sofya Gollan. Widely recognised as the longest-serving guest presenter on Play School and one of the most prominent Deaf people in the Australian film industry, Sofya had a profound impact on me from the moment we met. At our core, we were both Deaf people with a shared love of film. Other than Sofya, I had not seen any Deaf filmmakers working professionally. It was not until a few years later that I discovered more people in the industry, but I was struck by how few of us there were. That realisation shaped a belief I still hold: I cannot succeed as a Deaf filmmaker unless all of us succeed. I have long been passionate about uplifting our community, even if I was not always sure how to do it.
That belief is what led me to this incredible opportunity to join the Sign on Screen project in a research capacity. As luck would have it, Sofya is also part of the project, and working closely with her has been a highlight and will continue to be. My MPhil research will focus on how Deaf Auslan or sign language users have documented other Deaf Auslan or sign language users through film, and what we can learn from this as filmmakers. I look forward to sharing my research widely, with the hope of contributing new knowledge that supports the growth of sign language documentary production in Australia and across the world. I also look forward to honouring one of the most sacred parts of the Deaf community, storytelling, within my research. I am thrilled to be working with Gemma and the brilliant team of Deaf filmmakers, who you can learn more about on the People or Partners page.
