THE DEAF and HEARING ENSEMBLE COMEDY FROM DIRECTOR ALEK LEV
“WHAT?”
STARRING JOHN MAUCERE
TO WORLD PREMIERE AT DANCES WITH FILMS IN HOLLYWOOD AT TCL CHINESE 6 THEATRES ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
THE BLACK-AND-WHITE SILENT FILM ALSO STARS
JOSH BRESLOW, AMBER ZION, JEREMY GUSKIN, AND THE INTERATIONALLY-REKNOWNED DEAF SPANISH COMIC DUO ‘THE MALOES’ MARIANA LONGARES ESRICHS & JOSEP DANIEL ROSELLO
NEW Festival Trailer and Poster Were Dropped Today!
He’s Deaf. Listen up.
HOLLYWOOD, CA (AUGUST 26, 2021) – Writer/director Alek Lev’s silent movie, the Deaf and hearing ensemble comedy WHAT? will have its World Premiere at the Dances with Films festival at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on Thursday, September 9, at 7:00pm PT, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and cast.
What? was filmed in the black-and-white, silent comedy style of Charlie Chaplin but set in modern-day Los Angeles, including some of the famous Hollywood locations of Chaplin and Buster Keaton’s films. WHAT? tells the story of a Deaf actor, played by John Maucere, who is tired of the disrespect and discrimination he confronts in Hollywood. He decides – through sign language, gestures, and whatever it takes - to take matters into his own… hands.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
https://www.thewhatmovie.com/trailer
Actor/producer John Maucere explains, “A century ago, in the era of silent films, Deaf and hearing audiences could laugh and cry together, as one. With the advent of sound, these audiences split apart, and have ever since experienced films in vastly different ways. With WHAT?, we are bringing back the unifying power of silent films, allowing everyone in our audience, Deaf and hearing alike, to laugh and cry together once more.”
In What?, DON is Deaf, uses American Sign Language, and wants to act on the big screen. He is successful within his own community, putting on a one-man ASL show to rapt Deaf audiences. But Don wants more. He strikes a deal to look after a Hollywood director’s visiting Spanish Deaf cousins in return for a part in this director’s film. Babysitting the cousins is a nightmare, and worse, the director casts a hearing actor in the Deaf role instead. Don lowers himself to making another deal, agreeing to teach this guy ASL.
But the director backstabs Don yet again, casting Don in a small, silly, hearing role. Horribly embarrassed, Don comes up with a plan that shows the director what it feels like to be disrespected, which ultimately convinces the director to give Don the role of his dreams… but is that what it really is? In the end, Don returns to his own community, realizing that while “mainstream” success has its joys, genuine love and understanding comes from the people who truly see him.
“The underlying story of discrimination may be serious, but the tone is light and exaggerated in the classic Chaplin/Keaton style. But like Chaplin, we do hope to make you think by making you laugh,” said writer/director Lev.
In addition to John Maucere, the black-and-white silent feature stars an ensemble cast of Deaf and hearing actors, including Josh Breslow, Jeremy Guskin, Marina Longares Escrichs, Josep Daniel Rosello, Amber Zion, Sheena Lyles, and Keaton Talmadge, in an homage to her great-grandfather, Buster Keaton. Cameo by Anthony Natale from MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS and JERRY MAGUIRE. The actors communicate through American Sign Language, Catalan Sign Language, German Sign Language, (silent) spoken English, title cards, subtitles, and universal gestures.
The filmmakers include Deaf executive producers, Deaf investors, a Deaf cinematographer, Ruan du Plessis, and a hearing writer/director, Alek Lev, who is fluent in ASL, with a majority Deaf crew. John Maucere produced with his brother Paul Maucere under their banner The Maucere Brothers, with Cassandra Jones, Lev, and his partner in Hyphenate Films, Joel Viertel, who produced and edited the recent film THE BANKER, bought by Apple TV+ as its first theatrical release. Executive producers include Thomas and Terri Otto-Bruc, Uwe and Christina Schoenfeld, Robin Taylor, John Austin, and Vanessa R. Vaughn. Co-Executive Producers: Liz Tannebaum, John Austin, and Jonathan Weiss, proprietor of Big Mango Cafe.
The music reflects the movie’s expansion of another era’s cinematic language to tell a contemporary story. Composer and performer Justin Asher plays silent-movie-house piano in a complicated world, defiantly delivering genre-jumping, finger-dancing bursts of sound that roll synchronously with the dynamic physical drama and comedy. The score also features brief electronic music cues to mark moments of deep departure.
What? is available for worldwide distribution.
Photo rights granted for usage in coverage of the film “What?”.
©2021 The Maucere Brothers / Photo by: Ruan du Plessis
TW: @TheWhatMovie
IG: @TheWhatMovie
FB: @thewhatmoviepage
www.TheWhatMovie.com
No comments:
Post a Comment