Cinema/Chicago - Education

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program

The deaf and hard of hearing have been mostly left out of the movie-going experience. For the past several years, Cinema/Chicago has reached out to these communities by raising awareness of the multitude of high-quality subtitled films at The Chicago International Film Festival. At many Festival screenings, sign-language interpreters are present to facilitate participation by deaf audience members in the post-screening discussions.

More importantly, the Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, created in 1999, brings deaf actors, animators, screenwriters and other entertainment professionals into Chicago Public Schools to conduct special workshops for deaf teens. The Program also arranges screenings of subtitled films and other works of interest for the students.

Program Timeline

1999
Deaf and hard of hearing students from Chicago public schools were brought to the 35th Chicago International Film Festival for a screening of the feature Tuvalu with the film’s director Viet Helmer.

2000
Animation workshops were led by animator Mark Fisher (Land Before Time, The Little Mermaid). The students participating at Mahalia Jackson Elementary and Whitney Young HS created a final animated short film.

2001
The Program held an acting workshop at Whitney Young HS with the deaf and hard of hearing students led by actor Robert Schleifer (Goodman Theatre’s Christmas Carol, Police Deaf Near Far). Each student received a certificate of participation in the workshop.
Cinema/Chicago was honored with an award from The Chicago Hearing Society for its contribution to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities.

2002
The Program organized a screenwriting workshop with Deaf and hard of hearing students in Chicago public schools. The workshop was led by screenwriter and Columbia College graduate Ritchie Najor, who is currently working in Hollywood.

2003
The Program arranged an acting workshop at the annual Youth Service Expo in March with actor Robert Schleifer. 25 deaf and hard of hearing students from Whitney Young HS attended the event and received certificates of participation.
In July the Program held a special screening of the British TV series RUSH, which follows the story of 9 young deaf and hard of hearing college students as they face the many different challenges of growing up. Attending the screening were 65 students from Whitney Young’s summer program for deaf and hard of hearing teens. The speakers were: Deaf Social Service Professional Marco Antonio Coronado and actor Robert Schleifer.

2004
The Program held an acting workshop at Chicago's famous Goodman Theatre with the deaf and hard of hearing students led by actor Robert Schleifer (Goodman Theatre’s Christmas Carol, Police Deaf Near Far). Each student received a certificate of participation in the workshop.

2007
Our April 2007 acting workshop will once again be held in collaboration with the Goodman Theatre and led by actor Robert Schleifer.

education

Students from Whitney Young High School with Chicago actor Robert Schleifer.