Shoshannah Stern – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE (SXSW 2025) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

March 15, 2025March 19, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin aaron sorkin, Children of a Lesser God, documentary, Henry Winkler, Marlee Matlin, Marlee Matlin Not Alone Anymore, Oscar Best Actress, Randa Haines, Sara Newens, Shoshannah Stern, Sian Heder, SXSW 2025, Troy Kotsur, William Hurt

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first deaf performer to win an Oscar, earning the Best Actress award for Children of a Lesser God. For more than three decades, she was the only deaf actor to win an Oscar—and in navigating Hollywood, she often felt alone. The documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore is a revealing and introspective look at this groundbreaking performer but also an insightful one, conveying its interviews and revelations through how Matlin experiences life: with visuals, sign language, and captioning.

Festivals Reviews

MARLEE MATLIN NOT ALONE ANYMORE (Sundance FF 2025) – Review by Leslie Combemale

February 3, 2025February 2, 2025 Leslie Combemale (Sundance FF 2025), american masters, deaf director, documentary, Henry Winkler, Jack Jason, Marlee Matlin Not Alone Anymore, Shoshannah Stern

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.