american masters

There are so few Deaf directors working in Hollywood, it’s a joy to encounter a film helmed by one. Made for the PBS series American Masters, director Shoshannah Stern makes the perspective of the documentary very clear. She shifts back and forth between spoken word used with hearing subjects, and subtitles and no oral interpretation with Deaf subjects as well as in scenes where she’s interviewing Marlee Matlin. That alone requires a shift in hearing viewers that creates empathy and understanding some might not have before watching the film. And Not Alone Anymore is a necessary and valuable film, because it tells the story of a groundbreaking trailblazer who has shifted American culture permanently and in dramatic ways.