Fullständig transkription av Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, "Deaf President Now!"

time, appreciate you. 44 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:42.200 And more and more. This is the collection. Now you're 45 00:01:42.280 --> 00:02:04.599 host of the boat Brett. 46 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:59.000 Yoga, CW thirty nine in Houston. Not Ile Davis, thank 47 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:04.359 you so much for talking. Congratulations on the film. 48 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:06.159 Thanks, thank you so much. 49 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.759 I want to start really with a question for both 50 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:12.520 of you, but Nile, if you could kick us off. Obviously, 51 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:14.759 the story is important, That's why you felt the need 52 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.000 need to tell him. But what was it specifically that 53 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:20.199 made you say let's sit down and show this in 54 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.840 a documentary form to really, you know, shine the light 55 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:25.800 on this particular subject. 56 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.280 Yeah, a great question. It's funny. Actually this project didn't 57 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:34.680 start as a documentary, but instead as a script scripted project. 58 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.479 We hired a couple of writers to put together a script. 59 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.199 And you know, Deaf President Now wasn't just a simple 60 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:46.439 protest to appoints a deaf president. It contained so much 61 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:50.800 nuance and layers of oppressive dynamics that had existed for years. 62 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.960 You know, it speaks to discrimination and paternalism that had 63 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:56.479 really run this campus for one hundred and twenty four years. 64 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.599 So when I was talking to you, Davis about what 65 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:04.240 I felt a scripted version really lacked, he said, this 66 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:06.199 absolutely has to be a doc and the rest is 67 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:06.840 really history. 68 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:08.080 You know. 69 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:11.439 I think doing this as a doc, we were able 70 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.960 to break the rules that you would typically have to 71 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.159 abide by in a scripted space. We were able to 72 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:20.840 incorporate so much more of the deaf experience into the film. 73 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.240 Yeah, I mean, Davis, just what was that point there 74 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.000 where you said, you know what a documentary is the 75 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:27.280 route to go not scripted? 76 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.159 Well, we're here in galad At University today and in Washington, 77 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:33.520 d C. Where I grew up, and I hadn't heard 78 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.919 of this story, and I just couldn't believe that the 79 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.039 world had sort of forgotten or neglected the story. It's 80 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.719 it's an if your viewers want to watch it, it's 81 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:49.520 it's an incredible story of how collective action works young 82 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:54.960 students when they see uh, something that they could they 83 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.159 came through leadership and communication actually get something done. It's 84 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.879 it's a refreshing story. Given all the tumult right now 85 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.919 and so many protests that feel kind of super negative, 86 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:14.039 this is an incredible story of hope and optimism and change. 87 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.480 So I said, well, if we have to tell a story, 88 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:20.839 and the truth of it is so much better than fiction. 89 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.079 These actual characters are so amazing. 90 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:29.680 And I think what's great about documentaries, especially one such 91 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:32.079 as yours. I think that people might have heard of 92 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.519 the of the of the Protest, maybe they have some 93 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.279 recollection of it, maybe they don't know anything about it. 94 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:41.120 And as directors and documentary filmmakers, you kind of acted 95 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.959 as archaeologists in the way, right, here's what we knew 96 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.680 about this thing, but let's actually dig in deep and 97 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.920 maybe even discover some new information. Nile, was there anything 98 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.959 during the process of putting together the doc that surprised 99 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.680 you even maybe new information. 100 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:00.000 Yeah. 101 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.560 Yeah, Actually, as we were going through the archives, we 102 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:06.759 were so lucky when we reached out to Galadat to 103 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:11.399 find that they had a very very rich archive. And 104 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:14.439 I had always seen the same clips growing up, replayed 105 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:17.800 again and again, so I was excited to see, you know, 106 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:20.560 if there was a clip of Spilman saying deaf people 107 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.800 are not ready to function in the hearing world, because 108 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:27.040 that quote is legendary in our community. So we went 109 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:30.319 digging for the evidence of it. And even though with 110 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.759 all of the footage we had we didn't have any 111 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:37.759 of that, you could tell by her actions that the 112 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:41.160 attitude matched the quote in every way. You know, her 113 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:43.759 behavior is just it's amazing. 114 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:44.319 You know. 115 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:48.439 The Deaf President now for actually

have commented that they've 116 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.079 never seen so many of these clips and when they 117 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.240 first saw the film, they were like, oh wow, she 118 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:57.480 really did act like that. So that was a great impact. 119 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.319 And David, you know you put together you talk about 120 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.920 the start as a script. When you have a script 121 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.120 in front of you first peel for a scripted content, 122 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:07.439 obviously it's the beginning, middle, and end. 123 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:08.480 It's all there on the page. 124 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.560 You know, where the characters are going to go and 125 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.240 what have you or the documentary when you find these 126 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:17.079 new archival footage or find new information while you're shooting it, 127 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:18.720 I feel like, does a lot of it have to 128 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:21.120 come together in the edit after you get everything? 129 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.759 Yeah, that's right, it really is. And it was a 130 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.920 true collaboration with me and Nile, like what do we 131 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:30.439 have for archive? What are we missing? How do we 132 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.839 get that through the interviews with these four characters. People, 133 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.920 everyone they watch this movie, they say, Wow, these four 134 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.959 characters are amazing. They're hilarious. They don't always get along. 135 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.120 They're kind of like the breakfast club in a documentary 136 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.560 because they're kind of like at each other's throats at 137 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:48.600 the beginning, but they come together at the end. And 138 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:54.800 so yeah, it's all it's all a combination of all 139 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.800 that material. But you know, Nile really insisted that it 140 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:04.199 be told from a deaf perspective, and we have this 141 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.839 thing in our movie called deaf POV deaf point of view, 142 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:10.120 And I think that's that's what's unique about the movie 143 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:13.279 is that not only Calculate encapsulates all the things you're 144 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:17.240 talking about, but insists that we really experience and experience it, 145 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:21.120 not from a hearing person telling a deaf story. This 146 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:21.759 is different. 147 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.240 Well, it's an incredible film and an incredible story. I 148 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:28.600 thank you both for bringing this to the masses and 149 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.040 sharing the story and everything y'all share the title of 150 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:31.759 me today. 151 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:32.160 Thank you