Gallaudet University’s Tabitha Jacques Talks Recent Deaf Way Film Festival, More In interview

In my piece yesterday about last month’s Vimeo Staff Picks celebrating Deaf Awareness Month, I made quick mention of this year’s Deaf Way Film Festival. The event, held earlier this month on the campus of Gallaudet University, is a multi-day celebration of what’s described on the Film Festival’s website as “spotlighting the creativity, power, and stories of deaf filmmakers and professionals in the film industry.”

The Washington DC-based Gallaudet, founded amidst the backdrop of the Civil War, is literally the world’s preeminent institution of higher learning for the Deaf community.

“Join us for an unforgettable celebration of Deaf culture, storytelling, and community,” the school wrote about the Deaf Way Film Festival. “The Deaf Way Film Festival offers more than just films—it’s a vibrant celebration of Deaf culture and history woven throughout the Gallaudet University campus.”

I recently connected with Tabitha Jacques, Gallaudet’s director of arts, culture, and experience, via email for a brief interview in which she discussed the Deaf Way Film Festival and its poignancy to the Deaf community. At a high level, Jacques explained she feels “fortunate” to have the privilege of “[creating] experiences on campus related to deaf arts and culture,” adding her duties entail creating spaces in various locations on campus which “tell Gallaudet stories through art, artifacts, and didactic texts.”

It’s my understanding tickets for Deaf Way sold out quickly, with day passes the only ones available for interested parties. I sadly wasn’t able to attend, but it doesn’t take an astrophysicist to surmise a sell-out is a pretty good barometer of enthusiastic interest.

“I [was] so excited to bring back Deaf Way but in a new format where festivals are smaller and focus on a specific theme,” Jacques said of putting the film festival together this year. “This film festival will have films and panels, but also experiences that bring the community together such as participating in a community chalk mural and visiting art exhibitions on campus. I also look forward to creating a space for deaf people in the film industry to develop connections and to have the space to exchange ideas and to imagine a future where there are no barriers in the film industry.”

Jacques’ excitement was palpable because, as she explained, “deaf representation is getting better” along with the boilerplate caveat that “we still have such a long way to go!” Moreover, she noted she looks forward to the day when deaf representation is accretive; like Aisha Amin told me about her mindset after making Contours, which played at Deaf Way, and how she vows not to do another project without prominently including a Deaf character and ASL, Jacques looks forward to an environment wherein deaf representation merely constitutes “adding deaf people to the diverse cast of characters that make up our world” in addition to non-deaf people feeling increasingly “comfortable” with communicating with their Deaf and hard-of-hearing brethren.

“We are so lucky that we have such a wide range of technology to help us communicate and many ASL classes are being offered,” Jacques said. “We have made so much progress in the last 40 years and we still have so much more progress to work towards.”

She doubled down of her effusive praise for Deaf Way and what it represents writ large.

“It has been a wonderful experience to lead the festival. I have worked with so many wonderful people who are employees of the university and who are outside of the university,” Jacques said of her efforts to build Deaf Way. “Everyone has been incredibly supportive as they all want to see this festival be an amazing experience. I have also learned so much from everyone and from this process. I am grateful to be in this role.”

When asked about the reception to Deaf Way, Jacques told me feedback to it has been “very positive” according to Andrea Passafiume, Gallaudet’s film programmer, as well as the school’s screening committee. The group, Jacques said, was excited for the wider world’s opportunity to “see what films they have worked so hard to curate,” adding “people are excited about coming back to Gallaudet to see artistic creations that my office and the Deaf Way Film Festival team have worked so hard to produce.”

In the end, Gallaudet is the platform atop of which the Deaf Way Film Festival shines.

“Gallaudet University is an amazing place with so much to offer in terms of what the deaf community is able to create and produce,” Jacques said. “My hope is that the world will want to come and visit Gallaudet and experience what we have to offer and keep on coming back.”