Good independent film is great!

Last night I went to my first Rooftop Film, Voices From El-Sayed, a documentary about an Arab village in Israel who have a larger-than-usual deaf population. Early in the film, a man from the village explains that the reason for the unusually high rate lies in a genetic anomaly that persists in that community. There are some in the village who state that they prefer deafness; that if given the choice between the ability to hear and their status quo, they would opt to remain deaf. There are others who are eager to provide new hearing implants for their children. (The implants and all hospital care surrounding their use are offered free of charge by the Israeli government.) The film is beautifully rendered; a documentary that takes skillful advantage of images and juxtapositions, and one that mines powerful moments from quiet, domestic occurrences--such as the time a child repeats for the first time the word people have been saying to it over and over; a moment of recognition that probably happens every few minutes all over the planet. As the story unfolds, one is struck by the simplicity of the villagers' lives--they have access to electricity seven hours per day, from 5pm to midnight; the familiarity of their situations--one of them is nervous about complaining to his boss about a low paycheck; and the ease with which rich personalities and a rich story come out of this community. The film renewed my faith in filmmaking and particularly in documentary storytelling. And, it gave me great ideas for my in-the-works theater project.