A Deaf Man’s Symphony

by Eli Ramraj ’19, Director Making a highly ambitious short film in your final high-school year comes down to one thing—asking for favours. Inspiration struck in an English exam of all places, where the kernel of an idea for a short-film screenplay blossomed into a nine-month journey that we could never have anticipated. How do you convince people to support a minimal-dialogue film driven essentially by one actor playing two roles? It turns out that even people you don’t know will take hours out of their day to offer their artistic talents—all you’ve got to do is ask. GNS alumni Arianna Loy and Daniel Yvorchuk signed on as supporting actors, and students and staff joined as crew and extras, all united by a desire to create. Actor of stage and screen, singer, musician, and stand up comedian, Sheldon Graham, delivers a nuanced and compelling lead performance. After he reached out expressing interest, we met for coffee to discuss the project. An hour later, he enthusiastically signed on. And he didn’t ask for a penny. He explained that he believes in taking the opportunities you’re offered, because that’s how you learn. Learning from the experience, he said, was more important than being paid for it. Film is a collaborative art form. Of course, there’s no avoiding locking yourself in a room and obsessively making half-second edits for weeks on end. But at the end of the day, the joys we found in the process is why I love film so much. People who stopped and gazed in awe as we filmed downtown. Strangers who spontaneously joined in as extras, and even showed up for our early morning shoot at Earls. And—as the red carpet premiere approaches—we near the incomparable experience of watching this film with an audience.