Sound and Fury

A remarkable new medical technology has inflamed a 250 year old battle within the deaf community between "oralists," who communicate through lip reading and speech, and "manualists," who rely on sign language. SOUND AND FURY, a new documentary from the creators of ROAD SCHOLAR, profiles six profoundly deaf subjects on both sides of this highly charged fence to capture the painful search for identity within the embattled world of the deaf.

Oralists have always tried to overcome their deafness in order to function in the hearing world. They devote years of childhood to rigorous speech therapy and embrace any technology that enhances their ability to lip read and speak. Manualists, on the other hand, don't view their deainess as a handicap. They feel they are "normal" simply part of a non hearing cultural minority known as Deaf culture. Members proudly proclaim their uniqueness, treasure their gestural language, and would not become hearing people even if they could. While oralists and manualists have been at loggerheads for centuries, the communication wars of the deaf have reached a new level of intensity with the recent FDA approval of cochlear implants for 18 month old children. This surgically implanted device bypasses the patient's defective cochlea and sends its own sound signal directly into the brain. Oralists hope the cochlear implant will prove to be the cure for deafness, while manualists see it as an invasive, even abusive, surgery and fear it signals the eventual end of their cherished language and culture.