I have learned that deafness is a subjective experience where we must learn to respect one another’s choices.  Sal is one among millions of those with a hearing loss – and he is by no means a representative of a particular community, though his experiences are universal amongst many people with hearing loss.  Sandrine is an environmental artist who knows her potential but is stifled by her own feelings of not being “whole” as an artist and a human being because of her newly acquired disability, which greatly affects her mobility.  I have seen my friends with and without disabilities deal with the same issues that Sandrine and Sal encounter alone and with each other.  

I have been transformed by my interactions with people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, and oral deaf, and all people with disabilities.  We all dance with adversity on a daily basis.  I am an advocate for access and inclusion in the arts for deaf and hard of hearing people and people with disabilities as empowered subjects, storytellers, and creators behind the camera.  My cast and crew are truly diverse in the fullest sense of the word, and I couldn’t be more proud of my “Transients” family, as each has affirmed my belief that the process of creating the film is equally important as the final product.  

Rhianon Elan Gutierrez
Director and Writer
Summer 2010   

RETURN TO MAIN

This past year, the success of my documentary short, “When I’m Not Alone”, has brought me into the company of intelligent, sensitive, and radical people who have challenged my notions of ability and pushed me to be a stronger advocate for inclusion.  As a person with a profound hearing loss who was raised orally in the mainstream, I have experienced both feelings of isolation and solidarity.  I love being with people – talking, listening, watching, working with, and analyzing them.  What better place to do that than through cinema?  My experiences with deafness and disability permeate my work as an artist and activist, so I naturally wanted to create a story where the two central characters are artists with disabilities.  I envisioned them in a space where they would inevitably collide with each other, and where the audience discovers them as they discover each other.  Especially important in this discovery is seeing them portrayed as whole people, not as broken characters.