Miss-Delectable
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Las Cruces Sun-News - Deaf filmmaker aims to show hearing, nonhearing people are on equal playing field (7:05 a.m.)
In a windowless back room at Santa Fe Community College, Tommy Tischler began the long process of editing 30 hours of film.
The 30-year-old and a group of mentors huddled around a computer, watching footage from a football practice. In the tape, the players' silhouettes are backlit by a brilliant New Mexico sunrise.
"That's a nice shot. I really like that," professor Matthew Paige said, before a sign-language interpreter relayed the message to Tischler.
Tischler smiled and replied by moving his hands quickly and excitedly. "That was early, early morning," he said.
While they waited for an interpreter, the group communicated through improvised sign language and by writing with markers on a white board.
Tischler's first documentary has presented him with all sorts of new challenges while forcing those around him to rethink the way they communicate. Tischler was born deaf.
"I would like to show that deafness isn't so totally different," Tischler said through an interpreter. "We are all on an equal playing field. There are always problems with communication, but people can find a way to work them out. The movie will show how it can be done."
Tischler's project documents the way one of his heroes, New Mexico School for the Deaf football coach Robert Huizar, interacts with his players on an all-star team, a mix of deaf and hearing players. The players in the movie face similar challenges as those Tischler has encountered in making his film.
In November, coach Huizar led the School for the Deaf's Roadrunners to the state championship in six-man football, a title the school last won in 1977. Huizar, who has been deaf for most of his life, went on to coach the Northern New Mexico All-Stars, who beat the southern all-stars this year in Ruidoso.
Tischler filmed the triumph of the northern team, which was made up of six players from the School for the Deaf and a handful of hearing players.
Tischler said he believes humans have a natural ability to communicate, to make gestures that others will understand. He said the hearing and deaf players used body language, gestures and physical contact to communicate during practice.
"I wouldn't necessarily say it was their own language — it was a sports language," Tischler said. "They created a space where they were open to all forms of communication, where everything was possible. The ability of the team to communicate, it was almost telepathic."
Tischler, of Santa Fe, said he always has loved film. He began making home movies about five years ago at his aunt's 40th birthday party. His family loved the movie he made and encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker.
Tischler, who recently graduated from Santa Fe Community College, won a Governor's Cup Award after pitching his film to a selection panel connected with the New Mexico Film Office. Tischler used the $5,000 award to make the film, although he's not sure how much the project will cost.
Jodi Delaney, the director of New Mexico's filmmaker program, said this year's winners of the Governor's Cup — all student filmmakers creating documentaries — will be shown at the New Mexico Film Festival this winter.
"When he walked in, there was so much energy coming out of him and so much passion for his project," Delaney said of Tischler. "All of the panelists could see that he had a lot of skills and a lot of passion to do it."
Tischler and his team still have some details to work out. His film will use sign language, but also sound, which will be edited by someone who can hear. Although such a film might create challenges for some audiences, Delaney said, Tischler's story is so compelling that it should appeal to everyone. And, she said, New Mexico would be honored to launch a deaf director because there are few in the field.
"Documentary filmmaking is about storytelling," she said. "He had a real story. He had a story about a coach and a team with an enormous obstacle. A story like that is going to resonate with a hearing and a deaf audience."
In a windowless back room at Santa Fe Community College, Tommy Tischler began the long process of editing 30 hours of film.
The 30-year-old and a group of mentors huddled around a computer, watching footage from a football practice. In the tape, the players' silhouettes are backlit by a brilliant New Mexico sunrise.
"That's a nice shot. I really like that," professor Matthew Paige said, before a sign-language interpreter relayed the message to Tischler.
Tischler smiled and replied by moving his hands quickly and excitedly. "That was early, early morning," he said.
While they waited for an interpreter, the group communicated through improvised sign language and by writing with markers on a white board.
Tischler's first documentary has presented him with all sorts of new challenges while forcing those around him to rethink the way they communicate. Tischler was born deaf.
"I would like to show that deafness isn't so totally different," Tischler said through an interpreter. "We are all on an equal playing field. There are always problems with communication, but people can find a way to work them out. The movie will show how it can be done."
Tischler's project documents the way one of his heroes, New Mexico School for the Deaf football coach Robert Huizar, interacts with his players on an all-star team, a mix of deaf and hearing players. The players in the movie face similar challenges as those Tischler has encountered in making his film.
In November, coach Huizar led the School for the Deaf's Roadrunners to the state championship in six-man football, a title the school last won in 1977. Huizar, who has been deaf for most of his life, went on to coach the Northern New Mexico All-Stars, who beat the southern all-stars this year in Ruidoso.
Tischler filmed the triumph of the northern team, which was made up of six players from the School for the Deaf and a handful of hearing players.
Tischler said he believes humans have a natural ability to communicate, to make gestures that others will understand. He said the hearing and deaf players used body language, gestures and physical contact to communicate during practice.
"I wouldn't necessarily say it was their own language — it was a sports language," Tischler said. "They created a space where they were open to all forms of communication, where everything was possible. The ability of the team to communicate, it was almost telepathic."
Tischler, of Santa Fe, said he always has loved film. He began making home movies about five years ago at his aunt's 40th birthday party. His family loved the movie he made and encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker.
Tischler, who recently graduated from Santa Fe Community College, won a Governor's Cup Award after pitching his film to a selection panel connected with the New Mexico Film Office. Tischler used the $5,000 award to make the film, although he's not sure how much the project will cost.
Jodi Delaney, the director of New Mexico's filmmaker program, said this year's winners of the Governor's Cup — all student filmmakers creating documentaries — will be shown at the New Mexico Film Festival this winter.
"When he walked in, there was so much energy coming out of him and so much passion for his project," Delaney said of Tischler. "All of the panelists could see that he had a lot of skills and a lot of passion to do it."
Tischler and his team still have some details to work out. His film will use sign language, but also sound, which will be edited by someone who can hear. Although such a film might create challenges for some audiences, Delaney said, Tischler's story is so compelling that it should appeal to everyone. And, she said, New Mexico would be honored to launch a deaf director because there are few in the field.
"Documentary filmmaking is about storytelling," she said. "He had a real story. He had a story about a coach and a team with an enormous obstacle. A story like that is going to resonate with a hearing and a deaf audience."
