Turkish director's award-winning film 'Silent Plan' brings deaf voices to forefront

Screenwriter and director Ömer Yıldırım said the research and preparation process for his award-winning short film "Silent Plan" gave him a deeper understanding of the deaf community and became a major source of motivation during production. The Turkish short film centers on four deaf youths chosen to participate in an experimental program that promises to let them hear for the first time. After spending years preserving recordings of their loved ones' voices, they are unexpectedly excluded, pushing them into an emotional struggle over loss, identity, and belonging.

Learning from the deaf community

"I sat down with deaf people and tried to communicate with them, and there were so many things I did not know. That constantly motivated me," Yıldırım told Anadolu. He said he initially used the term "disabled" frequently in the script before learning from members of the deaf community that the term could be uncomfortable. "We were warned that the term should not actually be used. While trying to sound polite, I learned how disturbing that expression could be. We then changed the script."

Equal experience for audiences

Yıldırım said one of the film's central ideas emerged from a line about dependence on devices. "We talk on phones and use microphones and speakers to make ourselves heard. That became a powerful starting point. I realized that, in a sense, we all hear through devices, and there is an equality in that." He added that deaf actors appear in 60% of the film, with subtitles allowing audiences anywhere to experience the film under the same conditions.

Filming techniques

Yıldırım noted that filming techniques had to be adjusted for sign language communication. "When communicating with our deaf friends, we had to position our camera framing accordingly. While we initially thought of close-up shots, we realized we needed to carefully select compositions because they communicate through their hands."

Anadolu's sign language initiative

Anadolu's Discrimination Line Director Tufan Aktaş discussed the "Eller Konuşur" (Hands Speak) project, which aims to provide hearing-impaired individuals with fast and accessible news coverage. He said inverted sentence structures and overly complex wording should be avoided in content for deaf audiences. The workshop was simultaneously translated into sign language