Greta Ng
It goes without saying that films have the transformative power to drive diversity and inclusion. And what local film The Way We Talk does is put the often under-recognized Deaf community at the forefront.
The movie follows the lives of three Deaf young adults with different and at times opposing identities as they navigate the hearing world while forging bonds in the community. At its core lies a deep sense of appreciation of sign language.
Adam Wong's sixth feature film stars Chung Suet-ying, Neo Yau Hawk-sau, and Deaf actor Marco Ng Tsz-ho, who is making his acting debut.
Prior to landing the role, Chung had been drawn to Deaf culture and spent close to two years learning sign language.
"The biggest preparation for my character, Sophie, was to interpret it not from the perspective of a hearing person - but to feel like a Deaf person."
Aside from memorizing signs, she says she also practiced reading lips.
Yau recalls how he learned the language from two teachers - "Kim" and "Seabird" - for over a year in what he calls the "most immersive role of my career."
He adds: "During rehearsals, the Deaf actors knew my sign language was limited. But they always encouraged me to communicate with them: 'Express it in your own way We can understand it.' "
Yau says his favorite scene is his character "Wolf" teaching Chung's character "Sophie" the language for the first time at a hawker stall.
"It's where Sophie and the audience follow Wolf into his world," he says. "Some of the dialogues in that scene have no subtitles, leaving the audience wondering what each sign meant, just like Sophie, which is beautiful," says Yau.
Chung says: "It's a scene that I will always remember - the feeling when you first started being fond of something."
The film title cleverly ties into how the sound design plays with high-pitch noises and silence to encapsulate the experience of Deaf individuals - depicting how they communicate. Yau says: "Some parts of the film are silent and they give me such a magical feeling. How captivating sign language is."
The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2024 and earned three nominations at the 61st Golden Horse Awards: best leading actress, best leading actor, and best sound effects. Chung won the best actress trophy.
"What's meaningful about this film is that there are many Deaf actors in it. I feel very lucky for the award. It belongs to everyone who has contributed," she says.
Yau says the awards and nominations are an important recognition for him and the Deaf community. "My hope is that they can bring more attention to the film and it'll perform well in the box office."
The Way We Talk will be released in theaters on Thursday.
