The Cinematheque

VIFF 2022

Diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural progressive hearing loss in the first grade, Charo Mato became fully deaf by the age of 23, and received cochlear implants against her parents’ wishes. Structured with eight distinct stories and questions, Mato’s autobiographical documentary flits between childhood stories and digressive memories, the scientific and medical explanations of hearing loss and implants, and poetic ruminations on the nature of life and language. Mato uses the film to process her own experience, interweaving home videos of her childhood with the stories and lives of people she’s interviewing for the film, and exploring the stories and lives of the d/​Deaf and hard of hearing while resisting a monolithic experience. A beautiful, highly personal film processing and celebrating the experiences of those with hearing loss.

Spectrum: A collection of innovative nonfiction filmmaking