Audible

Competing for the Oscars 2022 in the short film documentary category, it is directed by Matthew Ogens.

The film follows Amaree, a teenager who plays on an American football team. The difference is that he is deaf, as well as the coach and all the team members. The team competes for the national championship, playing and beating teams with hearing players. A defeat, after more than 40 victories in a row, made the whole team unite even more towards the common goal, which was to overcome that obstacle and win the championship.

Director Ogens intersperses moments of the team with interviews with some players, among them Amaree, with the adoptive parents of a player who committed suicide at age 15 due to bullying he suffered at the listening school, and with members of the cheerleaders, among them a gay teenager, Amaree's friend, whose first love was just the boy who killed himself.

Although it's a documentary, in the moments when the players are in the locker room or on the field, the scenes felt rehearsed, scripted, not spontaneous. It was as if the director were directing a fiction.

This lack of spontaneity in the teams' scenes is a point that leaves the documentary without life, it doesn't take off, staying in the same way until its conclusion.

The coach's testimony, at the end, is very interesting, as he says that together, the boys overcame the challenges and obstacles of a deaf person on the football field, but he was sure they would face greater obstacles and prejudices when they left that bubble.

At the 94th Academy Awards last week, "CODA" won Best Picture. That focus on the daughter of a deaf family was undeniably one of the year's best.

There was another deafness-themed production nominated that night. Matthew Ogens's "Audible" focuses on the Maryland School for the Deaf, and how the students play sports as well as come to terms with a friend's suicide.

Most of the documentary is told in sign language with subtitles. Rarely have I seen something like this. One of the most impressive documentary shorts out there. Definitely check it out.

The players, coaches and parents are likeable characters, and although short, it's an enjoyable and heartwarming 40 minutes. If you enjoyed Last Chance U, then you'll probably like Audible.

It does feel like it needs to be feature length, or maybe even a limited series following a season with the Maryland Orioles. Come on Netflix, make it happen!

This is a engaging short doc that follows Deaf football players in senior year of high school. It manages to hit a lot of common experience-lost, grief, young love, etc.-quickly and elegantly. The Deaf experience isn't otherized or looked down on. This was fully engaging the entire runtime. This is full of life and pathos.

A beautiful short documentary, necessary and inclusive, I have the impression that I already knew the story of Terry, hearing impaired who was bullied and committed suicide, despite this tragic fact the documentary of a very beautiful message of overcoming, inclusion and respect, good terms contact with these special realities, which should be everyday, good to be in notoriety, in front of the Oscars, it was not a winner, but I found it perfect, moving and inspiring...