CODA - 3 nominations

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year Philippe Rousselet (producer) Fabrice Gianfermi (producer) Patrick Wachsberger (producer)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Troy Kotsur

Best Adapted Screenplay Sian Heder (screenplay by)

Ruby is a senior in high school, beautiful singer, works on her family's fishing boat, and is the only hearing member of a family of deaf adults.  (CODA = Children Of Deaf Adults)  Like many children of non-English speaking families, this puts Ruby in the position of translator for her family and as a result, she must sometimes parent her own parents when they are navigating the hearing world.  She knows that her family relies on her to such an extent that imagining a future away from them is almost impossible.  When she impulsively joins the choir as an extra-curricular activity to follow her boy-crush, her teacher Mr V sees her talent and begins to encourage her to consider a musical path at the Berklee College of Music, way across the country from her home in Massachusetts.

CODA is truly one of the best films of the year.  The only deaf Oscar winner in history, Marlee Matlin both starred in and produced this film - she has been a crusader (and sadly the only one with seemingly enough power) for telling deaf stories, and I think it's significant to note that this film is centered on the hearing character far more than the deaf ones.  Matlin won her Oscar in 1987, and this is just the second film since then to at least spotlight the experiences of members of the deaf community (with last year's Sound of Metal being the first).  Troy Kotsur is the first deaf actor ever to be nominated for an Oscar.

I have a personal connection to the deaf community having been obsessed with sign language since I was in the 4th grade.  I took sign in college and think it is the most expressive language known to humans.  When you watch the film, I want you to note how Ruby's big audition is noticeably enhanced by the addition of sign language.  People generally think sign is a language of the hands, but it is that and so much more.  It is the language of the hands, the body, the face, the eyebrows, the mouth, it is a language that takes up space.  CODA is a film that does the same in a list of great Best Picture contenders.

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