Deaf Child

Dutch Tobias has been deaf since birth. He feels at home in a small and international society for deaf people. He is also supported by his loving, close and encouraging family – a family we all would love to have. This documentary consisting of intimate conversations, childhood photographs and home videos is directed by Alex de Ronde, Tobias’s father. At first, Tobias doubts that a story about his life would be very interesting. His doubts turn out to be wrong. Deaf Child, a warm and touching tale about Tobias’s life, has won the IDFA festival Audience Award. It is also a film about the world of deaf people, a whole culture with its own customs and experiences. As inner ear implants are getting more common, Tobias believes that the deaf culture and sign language will eventually disappear. He is proud of his own identity and does not consider deafness an illness that should be cured. Different disability allowances based on deafness, like discounts on metro tickets or free entry to a Parisian museum, to Tobias seem like utter nonsense.
Teija Murmann (Translation: Ulrika Sundelin) (DocPoint)