The Silent Child

The Silent Child
Film poster
Directed by	Chris Overton
Written by	Rachel Shenton
Produced by	Rachel Shenton Chris Overton Rebecca Harris Julie Foy
Starring	Rachel Shenton Maisie Sly Rachel Fielding Philip York
Cinematography	Ali Farahani
Edited by	Emily Walder
Music by	Amir Konjani
Production company	Slick Films
Release date	8 August 2017 (2017-08-08) (US)
Running time	20 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English and British Sign Language

The Silent Child is a British sign language short film written by and starring Rachel Shenton and directed by Chris Overton, and released in 2017 by Slick Films.^[1] It tells the story of Libby, a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl, who lives a silent life until a social worker, played by Shenton, teaches her how to communicate through sign language.^[2] The film won the Oscar for Live Action Short Film at the 90th Academy Awards.^[3] The film's television debut was on BBC One to an audience of 3.6 million,^[4] the film then received an extended period on BBC iPlayer.

Premise[]

The film was based on Shenton's own experiences as the child of a parent who became deaf. The film features profoundly deaf six-year-old first-time actor Maisie Sly as the titular child.^[5][6] British Sign Language (BSL) is used in the film.

Plot[]

Joanne (Rachel Shenton) is a social worker who arrives at Libby's () home as Libby's siblings ( and ) and father Paul (Philip York) run out the door. Libby's mother, Sue, (Rachel Fielding) explains that Libby was found deaf at three years old despite having no deaf relatives, and that she can lip-read. However, the truth is no one makes any effort to communicate with her. They talk as if she can understand, like shouting "Goodbye" when she isn't even facing them. She doesn't even participate and she's left alone and isolated.

Joanne teaches Libby British Sign Language. They take trips to the park and garden, play sardines and eat sweets, all in BSL. And Libby slowly learns. Libby soon adores Joanne, with whom she can communicate. In the meanwhile, the rest of the family is disinterested in learning BSL. The only one that learns some words and spots Libby trying to communicate is her brother. But the topic is fastly changed and everybody keeps giving no attention to Libby. When Joanne suggests for the family to learn the language, the mother answers she has no time, and insists in making Libby learn to lip-read. In the same conversation, Joanne says she would be willing to be Libby's support and interpreter at school, but she is dismissed.

While talking to Paul's mother (), Joanne realizes that Libby was born out of wedlock, and her biological father was her mother's lover. Her grandfather was deaf, contrary to what Sue had said in their first meeting. The family has low expectations for Libby, despite her being smart. Paul's mother even asks at one point, "Do you think she could get a job?".

Soon Sue and Paul fire Joanne, telling her that Libby cannot continue BSL. Despite Joanne's suggestions they are sending her to a normal school, where another deaf boy had been and "did fine". On Libby's first day at school, she cannot understand anything. She stands all day, alone, while the teacher talks as if Libby could hear, and the children play around her. Joanne arrives at Libby's school. When the little girl spots her, she signs "I love you". Joanne, realizing Libby's future (alone, with no communication and no support) begins to cry, signs "I love you" back, and leaves.

Cast[]

• Rachel Shenton as Joanne, a social worker
• Maisie Sly as Libby, a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl
• Rachel Fielding as Sue
• Philip York as Paul
• Anna Barry as Nancy
• Sam Rees as Seb
• Annie Cusselle as Pip

Reception[]

Critical response[]

The Silent Child has an approval rating of 92% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 8.71/10.^[7]

Awards and nominations[]

The Silent Child won best short film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August 2017. This made it eligible for entry to the Oscars. In December 2017 the film was selected as one of the final ten films in the Live Action Short Film category for the 90th Academy Awards. On 23 January 2018, it was announced that The Silent Child was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the 90th Academy Awards, which it then won. Shenton kept a promise that she had made to their young lead actress and signed her acceptance speech.^[8]

Festivals Selections[]

See also[]

• List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing

References[]

External links[]

• The Silent Child website
• The Silent Child on BBC iPlayer
• The Silent Child at IMDb
• The Silent Child review in Miro magazine