Name Me Lawand

"I used to think my name was B-A-D... and before, people would bully me" This is a truly revelatory story of the eponymous young Kurdish boy who moves to Derbyshire where, with the help of some surgical implants and a great deal of care and affection, he begins to realise that he is anything but "B-A-D"! This lad is an hugely engaging character with a grin that could charm the cream from the milk. His journey to an eventual sense of satisfaction and contentment has not been easy, though, and the thrust of the narrative follows this inherently shy boy and his family as they must adapt to a new way of life, a new culture, new teachers and new attitudes. None of these are necessarily as benign was we might like - and this process of integration takes great strength and dedication from all concerned. Luckily for us, Lawand has that strength of character, and an opportunity to prove it which this documentary presents honestly and compellingly. Except. What's wrong with natural sound? So much of the potency here centres on his inability to hear, his unwillingness to speak - yet we are constantly bombarded with a score of gently repetitive piano chords that really add nothing at all to the story. If only we had a red button option where we could disable the soundtrack! The other thing that I left this film with, is an astonishment as to the effectiveness of British Sign Language. It's an amazing invention that continuously evolves with use and experience. Rather than learn foreign languages as kids, why on earth not do an hour or so a week getting to grips with this? It's not just useful here, but think on the elderly who struggle to hear for other reasons later in life - signing isn't a skill that will ever lose it's value. This is true story of family, commitment and love - and is really well worth a watch.

A question that arises from documentary is how to capture the everyday situation of the subject of the film without too much manipulation? With Name me Lawand director Edward Lovelace decided that the best way was to bring the audience into the perspective and point of view of the main character Lawand. It is a portrait of Lawand, a deaf child born during the Iraq war, who fled with his family as refugees to London. The theme of the film is about belonging and how impactful communication and language becomes at expression. It is also about the impact of trauma and isolation. Lovelace creates an expressionist documentary using archive footage, simulated POV, Musical score, sound design (capturing sounds through a cochlear implant like the one Lawand has) and ariel shots of Lawand walking alone and casting his shadow on the earth. He also get rid of any voice over narration by just having the audience see through Lawand's perspective. Some people will object to the manipulation of these tactics for a documentary but Lovelace believes that is the way to bring the audience to experience Lawand's world. He is using cinematic techniques to tell this story. It does becomes a fine line to balance but for a portrait I believe it works well. You can see the shot reverse shot of some conversation or the cut to perspective of Lawand that was clearly shot separately to make a seamless transition. For historical facts these tactics would tread on propaganda and manipulation but I think Lovelace is creating a portrait more that a typical documentary.

I saw this film recently at the 2024 RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC. It is a profoundly moving story of a child finding his "voice" (in the sense of being able to communicate authentically) and his value as a human being in the world. Viewers also learn about his traumas as a refugee child and the process and challenges of staying in the United Kingdom as a refugee, but I would say the main emphasis is Lawand's journey to self-expression and finding his place in the world, spiritually as much as mechanically. I really can't recommend it highly enough. I would especially recommend it to anyone who has ever struggled to communicate in any way.