If I Could Tell You

If I Could Tell You (70 min; 2022; English)

Directed by Niharika Popli who will introduce the film

Mentored and Supported by Film SouthAsia

Screening will be followed by a discussion

Charu, a deaf woman and her hearing friend Surbhi share two very distinct relationships with Indian Sign Language (ISL). Surbhi, a child of deaf adults (CODA), learnt signs even before she learnt any spoken language while Charu, raised in a hearing family, learnt ISL much later in life. Through the story of Charu and Surbhi, the film embarks on 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.

(Collaboration: Brotherhood and We Care Film Festival)