The New Zealand Motion Picture Industry Council and the Motion Picture Distributors’ Association pair with the Deaf
Action, Merge NZ and the Deaf to celebrate New Zealand Sign Language Week with screenings of the award winning short
movie “The Silent Child”
Press Release
The New Zealand Motion Picture Industry Council (NZMPIC) and Motion Picture Distributors’ Association (MPDA) are
delighted to announce their partnership with Deaf Action, Merge NZ and the Deaf community to screen this year’s Academy
Award winning ‘Best Live Action Short’ “The Silent Child” free of charge during New Zealand Sign Language Week in
cinemas around New Zealand in the week of May 7th.
Set in rural England and Inspired by real life events, “The Silent Child” centres around a profoundly deaf four year old
girl named Libby who is born into a middle class family and lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker
teaches her the gift of communication. When fresh faced social worker, Joanne turns up we see Libby transform. This once
withdrawn four year old suddenly feels connected to the world and over a short period of time Joanne and Libby's
relationship blossoms.
“’The Silent Child’ is an insightful short story, inspired by real life events, observing the realities of what some
describe as one of the loneliest disabilities and the avoidable struggles that deaf children face”, said Monica Leach,
spokesperson for the Deaf community. “It is an important movie for all people to see in terms of gaining some insight
and understanding into the challenges they experience in life and we are very pleased to be working with the NZMPIC and
the MPDA to have this important movie shown during New Zealand Sign Language Week”.
Rachel Shenton, the writer of lead actress in “The Silent Child” said ““This film has been a passion project of mine
from the start, My dad lost his hearing very suddenly which first exposed me to deafness and the ignorance surrounding
the silent disability. I want our film to be seen by as wide an international audience as possible, to reinforce the
message that sign language is so important to the deaf community, to allow them to communicate and fully engage with the
world around them. The MPDA are to be applauded for their assistance in promoting this message in New Zealand.”
Peter Garner, Chairperson of the NZMPIC, said “The NZMPIC are delighted to be partnering with Deaf Action, Merge NZ and
the Deaf community to screen ‘The Silent Child’ in cinemas around New Zealand”. Matthew Cheetham, General Manager of the
MPDA, echoed Mr Garner’s sentiments noting ‘The Silent Child’ was a deserving winner of this year’s Academy Award for
Best Live Action Short.
During the week of May 7th ‘The Silent Child’ will be shown at no cost at the following cinemas:
o Hoyts: Sylvia Park, Te Awa, Northlands, Riccarton
o Event: Westgate, Newmarket, Albany, Whangarei, Tauranga, Palmerston Nth, New Plymouth
o Reading: New Lynn, Rotorua, Napier, Courtenay, Dunedin
o Indies: Matakana, Cinema 3 Pukekohe, Lighthouse Petone, Tivoli Cambridge, State Nelson
Please check your local participating cinema or https://www.flicks.co.nz/movie/the-silent-child/ for session times.
Further information about the ‘The Silent Child’ can be found at the official
site: https://www.thesilentchildmovie.com/. While the Academy Awards Speech can be found
at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/silent-child-wins-best-live-action-short-oscars-2018- 1091421.
Further information about New Zealand Sign Language Week can be found at: http://deaf.org.nz/nzslw-2018-events