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DeAf Jam—where American Sign Language (ASL) meets Spoken Word. A group of New York City deaf teens reveal their passions, frustrations, and senses of humor as they discover and explore ASL poetry - eventually stepping into the world of the youth poetry slams with their hearing peers. With ties to rap and hip hop culture, National poetry slams for youth have been gaining momentum but few, if any, deaf teens have ever been included in these contests. DeAf Jam chronicles young deaf poets witnessing and participating in these contests for the first time. Performing in ASL, a dramatic visual language, the poets use rhythm, movement and body language to create a cinematic equivalent to oral poetry. In the film, the poets use sign language and poetry not only to express themselves, but also to raise issues about disability and the future of ASL. Pitted against the journey of the poets and contributing to this bittersweet story, is a counter-narrative, which traces the increasing erosion of this indigenous art form in the face of technologies and the educational system 'serving' to mainstream the Deaf into the hearing world. |
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Judy Lieff |
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