In his short film Recite with Your Hands, Jazz columnist and filmmaker Jo Won-yong taps into the disconnect writers can experience when the emotions being conveyed through a piece of art seems beyond our reach. In the film, deaf literature editor Yong-in (Gong Seo-yeon) struggles to connect emotionally to a new series of poems she’s been commissioned to work on.
As a writer poetess herself, Yong-in possesses the intuition needed to understand the writing on an intellectual level, but the emotional disconnect exacerbated by writer’s block with her own poetry, causes her frustration she’s unable to shake. Desperate for a way to experience the poetry, she looks into a new way to connect with writing. Inspired by using her hands to feel the vibrations emanating from speakers when listening to music, Young-in enlists the help of a friend who reads the poems, allowing her to feel the vibrations resonating from their vocal chords.
With this film Jo Won-yong shows the audience, particularly those who are hearing, that being deaf and having a disability invisible or otherwise, doesn’t have to be an insurmountable barrier to finding new ways to share the words just at the tips of our fingers with the world. All it takes is patience, imagination, and ingenuity.
In my interview with Jo Won-yong in Jeonju City, South Korea where Recite with Your Hands at the 2024 Jeonju International Film Festival, we spoke about how creating the script and the filmmaker process differs from his work as a columnist, and how Jazz and Korean Sign Language inspired Young-in’s characterization and the tone of the film.
Editorial note: Due to copy right, the voice of the interpreter has been muted and subtitled.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Film Critic, Journalist, Podcaster & YouTuber
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Host & Producer Carolyn Talks…, and So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at http://Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
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