Volume 2 Issue 5
March 2009 www.discoveringdeafworlds.com
Discovering: Shuktara Trailer Now Online!
View the trailer online at www.discoveringdeafworlds.com! After six months and countless hours of editing, captioning, and over a dozen rough cuts, Discovering: Shuktara is finished at last. High five! Thanks to all of you who have been cheering us on throughout this process. As emerging filmmakers, we could not have completed this project without your support and we are grateful! We’re also proud to announce that Discovering: Shuktara has been accepted into the 2009 Deaf Rochester Film Festival (www.deafrochesterfilmfestival. org) and the 2009 New Zealand Deaf Short Film
What is DDW? Discovering Deaf Worlds is dedicated to empowering and advocating for Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities around the world. We believe everyone deserves accessibility to language, education, and community. For more information, photos and stories, visit www.discoveringdeafworlds.com.
Discovering: Shuktara is DDW’s first documentary film. Festival (www.deaffilmfest.co.nz). More film festival submission updates are coming soon. Now that the grunt work of Discovering: Shuktara has been completed, we are supplementing this 33-minute documentary with special features for DVD distribution. Estimated completion and online availability is this June. For those of you who have previously contributed at the donation level of $100 or more, a limited edition copy of the film will be mailed to you as soon as it’s available. Thanks for your support! We are also seeking out various grants that will award DDW the opportunity to return to Kolkata, India. There, we will initiate our first international program in collaboration with Shuktara. Discovering: Shuktara will raise awareness and display the Shuktara organization as a model for other programs working with deaf people in developing countries. Grants have already been submitted to The Sundance Institute and National Geographic. If you know of a grant that DDW may qualify for, please contact us at info@discoveringdeafworlds.com. Watch the trailer of Discovering: Shuktara at www. discoveringdeafworlds.com/DiscoveringShuktara. html – and let us know what you think!
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First Accessible Performing Arts Building Breaks Ground in Cambodia! Epic Arts, an organization that empowers disabled individuals through the performing arts, is opening a new, fully accessible arts building this April in Cambodia. This building, the Angus Lawson Arts Centre, is the first accessible performing arts building in all of the country. In a country where an estimated 1 out of 250 people have a disability, Epic Arts is making a difference! DDW first learned about the amazing work of Epic Arts during our 2008 world tour. Epic Arts is one of several outstanding organizations that DDW plans to collaborate with in the near future. Learn more about Epic Arts at www.epicarts.org.uk/cambodia.
The Angus Lawson Arts Centre undergoing construction in Cambodia
Call for Volunteers at DDW Fundraiser! DDW will host a fundraiser at The Little Theater in Rochester, N.Y., this July. All proceeds for this event will go towards the remaining post-production costs for Discovering: Shuktara and DDW’s language development program with Shuktara (anticipated to begin in the winter of 2010). We are currently putting together a fundraising committee to help make this event successful. If you would like to join our fundraising committee or are interested in volunteering on the day of the event, please contact us at info@discoveringdeafworlds.com.
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Donate to DDW at www.discovering deafworlds.com
Reaching Out to the Local Community
Rochester Deaf Rotary Club President John Haynes with DDW’s Davin, DJ and Christy
A visit to Webster Thomas High School’s ASL class
Part of DDW’s mission involves community outreach, both home and abroad. In our hometown of Rochester, N.Y., we recently presented at the Deaf Rochester Rotary Club and visited American Sign Language (ASL) students at four different schools within the Monroe BOCES #1 school district. We explained how knowing a visual language while traveling abroad helped overcome communication barriers when spoken languages often could not. For example, while travelers to Japan or China may not be able to rely on spoken or written languages, the communication gap can often be bridged through visual language and gesturing. By learning a visual language, ASL students are developing a valuable communication skill they can carry with them around the world. DDW is spreading awareness, one classroom at a time. Check out our schedule below to see where else we’ll be in the upcoming months.
DDW’s 2009 Schedule March 26: Presentation at Ball State University, Munice, IN March 29: Screening of Discovering: Shuktara, Deaf Rochester Film Festival, Rochester, NY 11:50 a.m.–12:20 p.m. (as part of a series of short cultural films shown from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.) at Robert F. Panara Theatre, NTID/RIT *NOTE: correction from February DDW newsletter April 17-18: Presentation at Michigan State University, Lansing, MI May 7-9: Screening of Discovering: Shuktara, NZ Deaf Short Film Festival, Wellington, New Zealand May 21: Presentation at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, Buffalo, NY
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Expanding our Team:
Establishing DDW's Board of Directors For the past two and half years, many of you have become involved with DDW by spreading awareness about our organization, connecting us with deaf schools and associations abroad, hosting presentations, and/or donating to our projects. As one of over 2,100 newsletter members, you are the foundation that keeps DDW alive and running. Now, for the first time, there is an opportunity for you to get involved with our organization on a much deeper level. As mentioned in the last issue, DDW is currently in the process of becoming an incorporated non-profit 501(c)(3) organization under the guidance of global
Did You Know... Deaf History Month is celebrated March 13 - April 15. Why is half of the month in March and the other half in April? This period of time covers several important dates in Deaf history: • March 13, 1988: The Deaf President Now movement is a success. Dr. I. King Jordan becomes the first deaf president of Gallaudet University as a result of student-led protests – a monumental occasion in civil rights history. • April 8, 1864: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the charter founding what is now Gallaudet University, the first and most prestigious liberal arts college for the deaf in the world. • April 15, 1817: American School for the Deaf, the first public school for deaf students in the U.S., opens its doors in Hartford, CT. The school celebrated its 190th anniversary in 2007. Deaf History Month was initiated on March 13, 1997, when the D.C. Public Library had a Deaf History Month event, complete with deaf speakers and authors. Celebrate by visiting your local library for a book about Deaf culture, or by going to a local deaf event in your community. Happy Deaf History Month!
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law firm, Nixon Peabody. The time has come for us to establish our board of directors. We are looking for motivated and dedicated individuals to join us in advocating for deaf and hard of hearing people worldwide. Over the next several months, we will interview and host networking events to recruit potential members for DDW’s board of directors. Some of you may be directly recruited by us because we recognize your level of commitment to DDW’s mission. If you are interested, or know of another potential candidate to join DDW’s board of directors, let us know by e-mailing info@discoveringdeafworlds.com
Shout -Outs! Shout Shout-Outs! -Outs! Bill Keenan…You always keep us moving forward! Thank you for connecting us— with Nixon Peabody, Sundance, National Geographic, and so on. We are lucky to have your support. Christine Kretchmer and Site Brand Builder… Thank you for all your hard work and persistence moving our website into Builder 3. We did it, and it looks fantastic! Nancy Carr...Great job coordinating all our visits through Monroe BOCES #1. Thank you for being a constant supporter and spreading awareness about DDW!
The more I traveled, the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends. - Shirley MacLaine
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