[Host]: 174 films qualify for this year's Academy Awards, live action, short film category. But only 10 have advanced to the shortlist for nomination. One of those ten is Feeling Through. A film about a late night encounter between a teen in need and the DeafBlind man. The executive producers, Marlee Matlin, and Jack Jason joined us to talk about the film. Welcome to you both.
[Jack Jason]: Hi there. Thank you for having us.
[Host]: Marlee. I'm going to start with you. Tell us a little bit more about this story that is so touching and heartbreaking at the same time.
[Marlee Matlin]: Well, actually the first time I saw the film. In which it was after the film had been produced. They sent me the film. I just wanted to clarify that they sent me the film after the film had been produced. I was completely mesmerized by the story, by the authenticity in the acting. Particularly in the actor who plays the DeafBlind character. In fact that he was DeafBlind and I was amazed how well the story was put together. I just couldn't take my eyes off of it. Every second, every camera angle, every bit of action, every bit of dialogue that was in this film was so powerful for me to watch. And as you said, it is about a late-night encounter between two people, two unexpected people in a very unexpected situation. The cold streets of New York. In the middle of the night, both of them wanting to get home. One, the young teenager, the character who was called Tereek, trying to find a place to even sleep for the night.
[Marlee Matlin]: He meets a young man who's standing in the corner who says I'm deaf and blind, and I need help to cross the street and to get on a bus to go home. And this character Tereek. I guess you could probably say that he was, it was all about himself and he was wallowing in his self-pity. But yet when he met the man who was blind and deaf, somebody who had never met before, somebody he'd never even been encountered in this life. Realizing that here's somebody who's alone and that maybe I can help him for a few minutes. But the bond that they establish after those few minutes is all about being unselfish.
[Tereek]: You've never seen a blind or deaf guy before?
[Marlee Matlin]: Again, this movie isn't about being deaf or blind. Both of them have an agenda. Both of these characters have an agenda. They want to get home, but they establish an unusual friendship. In that moment.
[Host]: You mentioned the actors Marlee, and Steven Prescod is the young actor who plays Tereek. And then Robert Tarango is this, let's just call him a leading man, shall we. Who plays the deaf and blind man, and he is deaf and blind.
[Marlee Matlin]: And that is correct. That's why I was fascinated because there is a level of authenticity here that we haven't seen before in a film. Using a deaf and blind actor to play this character has never been done before. It's the first time ever in the history of film that we have a DeafBlind actor playing a DeafBlind role. And instead of having just an actor who puts on the costume of disability. Again, I always like to say disability is not a costume or makeup that you just apply and then take off. And what is interesting is that Robert, who plays a deaf and blind character in the film, has always wanted to be an actor. And the director, Doug Roland had been looking and auditioning a number of actors for the role. Actors who are deaf and blind, and all of them were great. But for some reason he couldn't find the connection that he was looking for, something more in the actor. And then somebody at the Helen Keller center, thought of Robert who actually worked as a cook in the kitchen, at the Helen Keller center. So they brought him out on his break one day and he auditioned and then the rest is history. There was a connection and the rest is history.
[Host]: And you saw an actress signing on television when you were a really young person and she gave you confidence.
[Marlee Matlin]: That's correct. That's right. And actually there's two different shows that featured the same actor. Linda Bove, who I saw on Happy Days. I remember watching Happy Days and saying, hey, there's somebody signing there and she's signing my language. I'd like to be able to do that. I want to be able to do that. And I was a fan of Happy Days before she was ever on the show. And then I saw her again as Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street. She really paved the way for me and for several other deaf actors as well. She gave me the inspiration, the motivation to dream.
[Host]: It is so important to have this inclusion and representation.
[Marlee Matlin]: This time, this moment. It seems to be louder than ever about inclusion, about accessibility, about diversity. And I'm so happy that we are finally being heard. Our voices are being seen and heard.
[Host]: Jack, I want to address this question to you. You and Marlee have known each other for a very long time and you have a production company together. What's your mission statement?
[Jack Jason]: The mission statement is for people to understand in the projects that we optioned, in the projects that we develop, in the projects that we hop on board is to show people that there's a great talent in a person by the name of Marlee Matlin. And that her Oscar was not a fluke, that it was not the result of pity vote and that she has the right, just like anybody else does, to play the role, whatever role authentically. And it doesn't have to be about being deaf. And it can be a great story that happens to have a deaf character. And I think the roles that she's done since that moment that she won the Oscar; whether we're talking about the West Wing or Picket Fences or the L Word or Switched at Birth, you see that. But she should be doing a lot more. There are women in her age and her position who are doing a lot more and Marlee should be just on a equal level with them. So that's my aim. That's what Solo One is for.
[Host]: I do want to say that right now seems to be a very special moment in Marlee's career. Not just the success of this short film, which is groundbreaking. But also the film Coda that was selected to open Sundance, which is a big, big deal! There was a bidding war. It will be released later in the year and Marlee, I know will be back to talk to us about it then.
[Marlee Matlin]: Absolutely. I look forward to it. And I'm really, really thrilled that Sundance believed in our film, Coda. And it's, you know, it's a whole different vibe than Feeling Through, but I think the similarities are in that they're both authentic in the terms of their casting. And that's why I'm pushing for more attention when it comes to films that cast authentically, as well as including other deaf actors. People who, whether it's their film or television or musical or whatever it may be, for all of us to have the opportunity to display our craft.
[Host]: Well, I want to tell everyone in the audience they can find Feeling Through which again has made the shortlist for Oscar noms. You can find it on YouTube. Thank you both for being here. It's a pleasure to meet you and we'll see you back again.
[Marlee Matlin]: Thank you. Look forward to it. Yay!