A LIFE WITHOUT WORDS

IN RURAL NICARAGUA, DULCE MARÍA (28) AND HER BROTHER FRANCISCO (22) ARE DEAF AND KNOW NO LANGUAGE--SPOKEN, WRITTEN OR SIGNED--UNTIL TOMASA, A DEAF SIGN-LANGUAGE TEACHER, ARRIVES DETERMINED TO TEACH THEM THEIR FIRST WORDS.

*2012 MARGARET MEAD FILMMAKER AWARD*
36th Margaret Mead Film Festival
New York

*PRIX DOCUMENTAIRE & PRIX LYCÉEN*
24th Cinelatino Int'l Film Festival.
Toulouse, France.

*SPECIAL MENTION - EMERGING INT'L FILMMAKER*
Open City London Documentary Film Festival

*BEST FILM*
CineDeaf Rome Int'l Deaf Film Festival

“The film, flowing with sublime images, is as poignant as it is captivating. We follow the awakening of Dulce Maria and Francisco with our heart hurting and a tight smile on our lips. Their “lives without words” reveal more than thousands of books. Not to be missed for anything.”
--La Dépêche du Midi (France)

 

"Isenberg’s work recalls the profound documentary excursions of Werner Herzog in its complex examination of what it means to be human."

--Spectrum

 

“...immersive...vivid, deeply personal view of the country's sign language movement.”

--Visual Anthropology Review

 

"An important documentary that’s both enlightening and full of emotion; you will walk away with a lasting appreciation for language as well as the human spirit."

--EMRO

 

“A film of beautiful images and deep pain. It delves into the world of rural Latin America with a view that is neither anthropological nor paternalistic.“

--El Otro Cine (Equador)

 

“It makes you think about how extraordinary it is to have language…It’s beautifully done…”

--Faye Ginsburg, anthropologist

 

“…transports you into another way of life--one which is both painfully difficult but also lifts the heart.”
--Hearing Times (U.K.)

 

“A masterpiece of aesthetic images and a plea for language as a fundamental human right.”
--DOK.fest Munich

 

“…beautifully shot, movingly thoughtful, and ultimately transporting cinematic experience…”

--Ruth Cohen
  American Museum of Natural History

71 MINUTES | HD | 2011
ZELA FILM | TURKEY, NICARAGUA

 

DIRECTED & SHOT BY ADAM ISENBERG
SOUND BY ALPER TÜRKKAN
PRODUCED & EDITED BY SENEM TÜZEN
ON-SITE ASSISTANT NOLA NACKERUD

 

Zela Film          Stage Film

ABT Istanbul          Jam Session