Little Hands - Documentary Short

September 10, 2008 4:32 PM

"Little Hands offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of deaf children at a Danish 'fritidshjem,' a recreation centre where they meet after school."

A fascinating short documentary, approximately 17minutes.
posted by chimaera (12 comments total)

nice post..thanks....

kudos to the folks doing the voice-overs...
posted by HuronBob at 5:22 PM on September 10, 2008

Double. not really
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:47 PM on September 10, 2008

Thanks! I learned a bit of sign language when I was about 10, and I'm pretty sure I recognized some of it.

Good stuff.
posted by Dumsnill at 8:01 PM on September 10, 2008

i wouldn't have guessed that sign language contained onomatopoeia.
posted by mexican at 8:18 PM on September 10, 2008

Exquisite documentary. Beautifully done.

A little backstory. Anne Katrine Talks, writer, director.
posted by nickyskye at 8:55 PM on September 10, 2008

This was fantastic, thanks! Loved the bit where the girls were "whispering." The whole thing is really well-done.
posted by estherbester at 9:36 PM on September 10, 2008

Thanks for posting. I loved how entirely expressive these kids were- the way they really used their whole body to talk was very cool.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:46 PM on September 10, 2008

I support Manchester United, they're crap. Great post, thanks.
posted by gangster_computer_god at 6:00 AM on September 11, 2008

This is wonderful.

It made me realize two things that I had never thought of being "privileges," but they're definitely unique to people who can hear: #1) being able to talk to someone who isn't looking in your direction, #2) being able to talk with things in your hands. (The kid with the tires really was a great example of how if you're signing, you can't really "talk" if your hands are full.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:22 AM on September 11, 2008

Wonderful video. So glad they dubbed a voice-over instead of using subtitles - it lent an emotional quality to the kids that may have been lost otherwise. Lots of genuine moments that gave insight to their world - I'm thinking of the boy carrying the tires and having to put them down each time he wants to respond to his friend - having your hands literally full does not impede communication in the hearing world.
posted by glasskey at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2008

It's worth nothing that manual languages also have some advantages over spoken ones - no worries about multiple conversations around a table drowning each other out, for instance. Also, "being able to talk with things in your hands" is somewhat limited, but you can sign with more things in your hands than a non-signer might realize!

Not to say thath grapefruitmoon and glasskey don't have valid points; just pointing out that it does tend to balance rather nicely. Most issues of hearing privilege are actually a result of using the dominant language, rather than a minority one.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 2:54 PM on September 11, 2008

I attended a junior college with a large amount of deaf students, 200ish if memory serves. College spawns arguments of course and I would watch (eavesdrop?, but I don't read sign) the deaf students debating something and when debates got heated, as a means of interrupting, one students would seize the others hands briefly to "quiet" them.

Full disclosure: I'm an idiot, I once asked a clearly lost and panicked (despite having her cane she ran smack into a bus stop sign, with heartbreaking haste) blind person if I could help them find "what they were looking for".

This, and maybe some chemical or other made me wonder: (This is a serious question): Do deaf people suffer Tourette's and if so, do they manifest corprolalia?
posted by vapidave at 4:46 PM on September 11, 2008