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Eva Libertad. Photograph: Patricia J Garcinuno\/Getty <\/p>\nWhen Eva Libertad set out to tell the story of a deaf woman navigating motherhood in a hearing world, she didn\u2019t have to look too far for inspiration. Deaf, the director\u2019s arresting new feature \u2013 winner of the audience award at this year\u2019s Berlin International Film Festival \u2013 draws from a childhood spent with her deaf sister, Miriam Garlo, who lost her hearing as a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of tension growing up,\u201d says Libertad, who is Spanish. \u201cMy sister was born hearing but lost her hearing at the age of seven. My parents knew something wasn\u2019t right, so they took her for tests. But the doctors never said, \u2018Your daughter is deaf.\u2019 They just told my parents to put her in the front row at school and teach her to lip-read.\u201d<\/p>\n
The absence of early deaf-friendly guidance affected both Miriam and her family. Within the home, parents and siblings adapted. They learned to communicate face to face, to articulate carefully and to support Miriam in her learning and speech development. But the weight of navigating a hearing world without cultural supports fell largely on the deaf girl herself.<\/p>\n
Despite these obstacles, Miriam pursued education, graduating from school and university. Still, a part of her identity remained unclaimed until she encountered the deaf community as a young adult.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a turning point,\u201d Libertad says. \u201cShe started learning sign language, and I did too, to accompany her. Miriam always says that, before discovering the deaf world, life was black and white. Learning sign language made the world full of colour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds obvious to say, but when she came into contact with the deaf community she had a revelation: \u2018Oh, I\u2019m deaf.\u2019 That was a turning point. For me, too, it was a moment to re-examine our relationship and what deafness means, not just for her but for us as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eva Libertad. Photograph: Patricia J Garcinuno\/Getty <\/p>\n
This personal journey became the foundation for Sorda (Deaf in Spanish), a short film that Libertad directed with Nuria Mu\u00f1oz in 2021. The film, which stars her sister in the lead role, explores a deaf woman\u2019s anxieties about motherhood. It made quite a splash, screening at more than 150 festivals, winning 54 awards and earning a nomination at the Goya Awards, the \u201cSpanish Oscars\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe short came from reality,\u201d says Libertad. \u201cMiriam was thinking about becoming a mother, and she told me all her fears. She gave me two pages of fears: emotional, practical, existential. It left a huge impression on me. That became the heart of the short film\u2019s script.\u201d<\/p>\n
Libertad felt there was more to explore. She began developing a feature-length version, not as a direct continuation of her sister\u2019s life but as an expansion of the themes. Miriam, who ultimately decided not to pursue motherhood, has returned to play \u00c1ngela, a fictional character inspired by real-life interviews and research.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my case, I found my creative place by focusing on the connection between the deaf and hearing worlds,\u201d she says. \u201cThe film is told through the lens of this couple, \u00c1ngela and H\u00e9ctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shared language, or lack of it, between \u00c1ngela and H\u00e9ctor, her hearing partner, becomes a tense battleground for intimacy and independence. The prospect of motherhood to a child who can hear is daunting for the deaf heroine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to explore how relationships function across communication barriers,\u201d says Libertad. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about language. It\u2019s about trust, identity and compromise. For \u00c1ngela, becoming a mother raises the terrifying question: what if my child isn\u2019t like me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI wanted the film to be accessible for both deaf and hearing audiences. That meant no off-screen voiceovers, no unnecessary close-ups<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Libertad<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Libertad spoke to a range of deaf mothers, collecting stories of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. These testimonies were vital tools for shaping the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the women I interviewed described the birth itself as traumatic,\u201d she says. \u201cOf course, birth can be traumatic for any woman, but for deaf mothers it\u2019s compounded. In Spain there are no protocols in place: no guaranteed interpreters or communication support.\u201d<\/p>\n
In both the short and the feature, form follows function. Libertad\u2019s choices as director were designed to prioritise clear and authentic communication suitable for deaf audiences. The camera rarely cuts to traditional close-ups; instead, wide, fixed frames dominate, giving the viewer full access to the characters\u2019 bodies and hands as they sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted the film to be accessible for both deaf and hearing audiences,\u201d says Libertad. \u201cThat meant no off-screen voiceovers, no unnecessary close-ups. When I explained this to my cinematographer, Miriam Fedele, she was shocked. She asked, \u2018How will we do this without traditional coverage?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
They made it work. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor deaf people, the eyes are the ears,\u201d says Libertad. \u201cSo we kept the camera at eye level. And in the final part of the film we shift fully into \u00c1ngela\u2019s point of view. The actors begin interacting with the camera as if it were \u00c1ngela. We even lit the camera lens to guide their eye lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though grounded in the deaf experience, Deaf has found unexpected resonance among hearing women, particularly around themes of motherhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has surprised me most is how many hearing mothers have written to me saying they saw themselves in \u00c1ngela,\u201d says Libertad. \u201cThey understood her fear, her isolation, her uncertainty. That kind of identification goes beyond deafness.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a landmark year for new deaf cinema. In May the stirring documentary Deaf President Now! \u2013 directed by the activist Nyle DiMarco alongside Davis Guggenheim \u2013 recounted the inspiring eight-day protest at Gallaudet University in 1988, at which students successfully demanded a deaf president. <\/p>\n