Pictures in the mind

This is the first drama documentary made with deaf actors and the first in sign language. It is the story of David, who is a bright, quick and enthusiastic 17-year-old. He cannot read and write and he finds communication very difficult. David is intelligent but he is profoundly deaf. Twelve years ago and had had those same twelve years of education, he would certainly have learned to read and write and communicate. “Pictures in the Mind” sets out to examine why young David is so handicapped. David meets a figure from the past, a Frenchman Jean Massieu, who was the first teacher of the profoundly deaf. Jean Massieu, in a “librairie of memories” buried deep underground, unearths for David and the audience the history of the deaf over the last 200 years and shows the damaging effects of the suppression of their sign language on deaf culture and educations. Nigel Evans, the writer and director of the programme, talks about the making of the documentary: “This is the first documentary entirely in sign language. For a language subtle, rich and expressive as the spoken word, yet one that is entirely visual, it was necessary to re-write much of the grammar of television. What works with a medium wedded to the spoken word is often meaningless when applied to sign language. Each shot in each sequence had to be designed to accommodate signing. The structure and pacing of scenes is markedly different . Alternative forms of presentation had to be designed for a language where such staple techniques as cut-aways and voiceovers are meaningless. It was a unique and exciting experience and I hope that it has provided some bench-marks for the future.”