瑞典斯德哥爾摩聾人電影節創辦人分享

Gunilla Wagstrom Lundqvist and Ylva Bjorklund

瑞典斯德哥爾摩聾人電影節創辦人

電影是一種傳播文化的媒介，很適用於聾人文化中的表達。在電影中，手語是自述的。電影會講故事，傳達出任何情緒。喜悅、悲傷、愛、絕望、友情、開心，所有都可透過手語表達，而且所有都是以視覺呈現出來。

這些年來，世界上有許多國家，手語和聾人從未有機會去發展、萌芽和成長。聾人總是要努力爭取表達自己文化的權利。

聾人是國際性的，是遊歷的人，他們的目的是經常能與各地聾人見面和交流。所以電影中的語言都是國際性和以視覺顯示。在90年代末，瑞典斯德哥爾摩的電影節裡曾放映有關聾人手語和聾人文化的電影，這應該是一個偉大的論壇，去顯示聾人文化和生活。在2000年的11月份，一個黑暗而多雨的週末下，第一次舉辦了Dovfilmfestival。這是一個空前的成功，門票在幾個小時內被搶購一空。

從那天起，我們就知道這個電影節是有必要和非常重要的。第一次電影節時，我們只篩選了健聽的電影製作。這並非我們的意願，只因為當時沒有其他電影。由於第一次電影節於週末進行，其後的Dovfllmfestival都會在每年11月的週末。而今年2013年，將於11月29及30日舉行。在這些年中，我們已經看到了聾人電影的變化，從當日只有健聽人士的作品，直到現在，所有的電影都由聾人製片者親自編寫、執導和製作。於聾人電影而言，這是一個勝利。現在，他們有屬於聾人電影製片人的論壇，去篩選他們的電影。不僅在斯德哥爾摩，世界各地都開始舉行聾人電影節。現在，包括香港亦舉辦第三次的聾人電影節。這種勝利是來自聾人藝術家的，他們可以自由地表達自己和其文化，是沒有任何限制的自由藝術方式。

電影節是非常重要，因為它是一個電影製片人的市場。世界各地的聾人電影節對聾人文化的發展是非常重要。各地電影節可能會有所不同，但我們的目標都是一樣—顯示聾人製作的電影。電影節給電影製片人有論壇的平台，以播放他們的電影。在觀眾面前播放電影，讓製片人有機會觀察觀眾的反應。如電影只能在互聯網上播放，是不可能反映觀眾的意見。電影節亦可提供宣傳電影的機會，讓其他電影製造商可交流經驗和想法。因此，我們非常高興，香港能繼續舉辦他們第三屆的聾人電影節。可見聾人文化的貢獻是無價的和非常重要的。

Dovfllmfestival是其中一個最早期的聾人電影節，而且每年仍在舉行。我們的目標是由聾人親自說出真實的聾人文化。我們這群聾人不視自己為需要被治療的殘疾人士，我們視自己為文化和語言上的少數民族。我們有自己的藝術表現形式和故事。Dovfllmfestival於2000年開始，直到去年秋季節已舉辦了13次。

我們已經看到了緊密的聾人電影發展情況，我們相信，其他世界各地的聾人電影節都是這發展的一部分。

Gunilla Wagstrom Lundqvist and Ylva Bjorklund

Founding organizers, Stockholm Deaf Film Festival (Dovfilmfestival), Sweden

Film is a cultural medium that suits the expressions of deaf culture well, in film, sign language comes into its own. Film can tell stories, convey any emotion, joy, sadness, love, despair, friendship, happiness - all in sign language and all visual.

For many years and in many countries in the world, sign language and deaf people never had a chance to develop, to grow and thrive - deaf people always struggle for the right to express their own culture.

Deaf people are an international people, a traveling people and their destination is often to meet and socialize with other deaf people. The film's language is also internationally as well as visual. In the late 1990 ' s in Stockholm Sweden we thought that a film festival showing films by and about deaf people, sign language and deaf culture should be a great forum to express what deaf culture and the lives of deaf is all about. So, a dark and rainy weekend in November year 2000 the very first Dovfilmfestival was arranged. It was a great success and tickets were sold out in a couple of hours.

From that day we knew that this festival was needed and very important. That first festival we screened only films made by hearing producers. Not because we wanted to but because there were no other films. Since that weekend we have arranged Dovfilmfestival during one weekend in November every year and this fall, November 29th-3o 2013 it will be number fourteen. During the years we have seen deaf film change, from that very first weekend showing films produced by hearing until this late years when all films are written, directed and produced by deaf filmmakers. This is a victory for deaf films_ It is a victory because there now are forums for deaf filmmakers to screen their films. Not only in Stockholm but around the world where deaf film festivals are arranged and now also, for the third time, in Hong Kong. This is victory because deaf artists now are free to express themselves and their culture in their own free artistic way without any limits.

Film festivals are important because it is a filmmakers market. It is very important for the development of deaf culture that there are deaf film festivals worldwide. The profiles of festivals may vary but the goal ought to be the same — to show films made by deaf filmmakers. Festivals give filmmakers a forum to screen their films. While screening a film in front of an audience, filmmakers get a chance to watch the reactions due to their films — a feedback that is impossible to get from screening a film at the Internet. A film festival also offers a chance to advertise the film to other film festivals and to meet and share experiences and ideas with other filmmakers. Therefore we are very delighted to see that Hong Kong is about to arrange their third deaf film festival. The contribution to the deaf culture is invaluable and very important.

Dovfilmfestival was one of the very first film festivals for deaf and still to be arranged every year. The goal has always been to show the real deaf culture told by deaf people. We, deaf people do not see ourselves as a group of disabled people who needs to be cured. We see ourselves as a cultural and linguistic minority with our own artistic expressions and our own stories to tell. Dovfilmfestival started in 2000 and have until this past autumn festival been organized thirteen times. We have seen the development of deaf film closely and believe that we, together with other deaf film festivals around the world has been part of this development.