04/07/2024 - The film is the first Spanish title starring a deaf actress, Miriam Garlo; Álvaro Cervantes and Elena Irureta round off the main cast

Actress Miriam Garlo and actor Álvaro Cervantes with director Eva Libertad and sign-language interpreter Rocío Ayllón on the set of Deaf (© Nuria Jean)

The filming of Deaf, the first Spanish film starring a deaf actress, Miriam Garlo, has recently finished filming in Murcia after six weeks. Joining the main cast is Álvaro Cervantes (awarded at Malaga Film Festival for The Sex of Angels [+see also:
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Deaf explores the conflicts that arise in a couple when facing parenthood, heightened by the clash of the deaf and hearing worlds. The synopsis presents Ángela (played by Miriam Garlo), a deaf woman who is going to have a baby with Héctor, her hearing partner (Álvaro Cervantes). Pregnancy brings to the surface her fears about motherhood and how she will be able to communicate with her daughter. The arrival of the baby girl creates a crisis for the couple and how Angela will bring up her daughter in a world that is not made for her.

Its director said, "a few years ago my sister started to think about the possibility of becoming a mother. We talked a lot about this issue and she shared with me her concerns, fears and expectations about motherhood in a world made by and for hearers. These conversations became the dramatic core of the script for the short film Deaf.” She goes on to say, "the experience of writing and directing that project was intense and eye-opening. As a screenwriter, it was a first contact with the subject of motherhood and deafness, which left me with the feeling that there was still a lot left to tell. I also saw the impact of this story on the hearing public, who were shocked to discover a reality they had never thought about before.”

Eva Libertad is a screenwriter, director and sociologist. Her filmography, together with Nuria Muñoz Ortín, also includes the short films Mentiste, Amanda and Leo y Alex en pleno siglo 21, with LGBTI+ themes, and the fantasy TV movie Nikolina (2020). Her feature film project Deaf participated in the Spanish Film Academy Summer Campus and in the Cine Qua Non Lab, among others.

Deaf is produced by Miriam Porté for Distinto Films in co-production with Nuria Muñoz Ortín for Nexus CreaFilms and Amalia Blanco for A Contracorriente Films. The film has the participation of RTVE and 7TV Región de Murcia, and will be distributed in Spanish cinemas by A Contracorriente Films.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)