Manual for Nomads (2020) is an Arts Council England funded film that builds upon work undertaken using sound and its absence, and which represents a step change from my previous moving image work – Field Notes – which were all produced using a mobile phone.
This Artist’s Short tells the story of Ellen, a confident and articulate teenager who also has multiple disabilities. However, we meet her as she searches, in desperation, for guidance and for community, in the face of severe weather events, in the face of the effects of climate change. The protagonist and significant members of the cast communicate through British Sign Language, making emphasis upon hand gestures and facial expressions central to the visual treatment of this film.
Where there is communication (in either BSL or speech) there are subtitles. However, another set of subtitles run through the film – excerpts from the ecotone paragraph from Hydrofeminism (Neimanis 2012).
This film has won the Tagore International Film Festival | Outstanding Achievement Awards in 4 categories: Debut Film-maker, Films on Disability, Short Films, Women’s Films, April 2020.
Laura Denning 