Voices from El Sayed

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Description

This unique festival film is a contribution to the debate between those who want to preserve the deaf culture and those who want to give children an opportunity to integrate into the hearing world. It presents this conflict from the perspective of another culture. Because of a congenital predisposition, the Bedouin village of El-Sayed in the middle of the Negev desert has the largest proportion of deaf people in the world. The people of El-Sayed do not consider deafness a handicap.Through generations they have developed a unique sign language, making it the most popular communication method among both the deaf and hearing.The tranquility of the village is interrupted by Salim, father of three-year-old, Muhammad, who decides to have his deaf son receive a cochlear implant, which is offered by the Israeli health system. The film follows the impact of this advanced medical process on a traditional culture, as it gives an intimate portrait of a child's learning to hear.