If I Could Tell You
Charu, a Deaf woman and her hearing friend Surbhi share two very distinct relationships with Indian Sign Language (ISL) — Surbhi who is a child of Deaf adults (CODA) learnt sign even before she learnt any spoken language while Charu grew up in a family of hearing people and learnt ISL much later in life.
Equipped with the power of language and the newfound access it has enabled her, Charu is trying to push the limits that the hearing world has imposed on her and is actively working towards building a larger community of independent, empowered Deaf women in India. Through her feminist forum called, “Deaf Women Too”, she aims to reshape societal perspectives and create a more inclusive future.
Surbhi, on the other hand has been an interpreter all her life, bridging the communication gap between the Deaf and hearing worlds. While continuing to fulfill her role as an interpreter, she is now learning to break out of the weight that comes with being a caregiver and is finding what it means to do something for herself.
By opening up this conversation about the need to express beyond just the Deaf community, ‘If I could Tell You’ embarks upon a broader inquiry into the significance of language in our shared human experience. Interspersed with performances and interviews with a dancer, a drag queen, an actor and an ISL poet, the film explores how these various manifestations of visual language help us understand agency, autonomy and care.
Made in collaboration with artist Pakhi Sen, this documentary pushes the boundaries of storytelling by blending diverse media forms, including animation and artistic performances. It is also the first instance of an Indian film featuring an original ISL poem by a Deaf poet.
