In the heart of Israel’s Negev Desert lies the Bedouin village of El-Sayed, which is not recognized by the government and thus lacks basic infrastructure, including electricity. Its unique political status, however, is not the only thing that sets apart El-Sayed. The village also has the world’s largest percentage of deaf people. Deaf and hearing people live side by side in harmony in El-Sayed, and deafness is hardly considered a disability. Rather, the deaf people of El-Sayed have fully embraced their “handicap,” developing a unique sign language. One can see the delight and mischief in every man and child’s eyes as they tell inside jokes using the sign language. They even declare that deafness is a much better condition than being able to hear. When Salim, one of the men from the village, opts for a different kind of future for his deaf son Muhammad, and prepares him for a cochlear implant operation, villagers are skeptical of its benefits and wary of potentially invasive effects on the child’s life. Salim faces doubt and frustration even as the surgery is successful, since the path to rehabilitation turns out to be much more difficult and trying for his family than he expected. Skillfully weaving the stories of Salim and Muhammad with glimpses of other residents of El-Sayed through intimate interviews and a first-person narrative by a young filmmaker from the village, VOICES FROM EL-SAYED portrays a tranquil village at a rare intersection of modern and traditional cultures.

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
I was born in Jerusalem in 1972 and was nicknamed Adomi when I was ten years old.

I have successfully graduated the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School in 2003 and in 2005 released my first documentary film titled THE BRAVE COWARDS about an old film professor's visit to an illegal rave party in the deserts of Israel. The movie was screened successfully in the Israeli Cinematheques appraised as an original and exiting independent film. 

In 2006 I started my work on VOICES FROM EL-SAYED, a moving creative documentary about the largest community of deaf people in the world located in the Israeli Negev desert. I teamed with acclaimed producer Noemi Schory of Belfilms Israel to produce this intimate portrait of the deaf Bedouins of El-Sayed. The film has had its European premier at One World FF in Prague and its North American premier at Full Frame FF where it won the Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award.  

I am also working as a freelance cameraman and editor in foreign documentary and news productions, setting my work-base in Tel-Aviv. I also teach and lecture on cinema history and documentary filmmaking.

I am husband to beautiful Yasmin and father to three-year-old charming Aviv. 
 
 

What inspired this film?  How did you find your subjects? 
From the first moment I met the El-Sayed Bedouins over three years ago I was drawn to them, impressed by them and their special attitude to their deaf community. The deaf people of the village, young and old, are fully integrated in El-Sayed's community life. The integration is natural and fake-less. Their humane attitude toward the handicapped made me wonder about the patronizing way disadvantaged people are treated in our "advanced" world and inspired the filmmaking.

I had stayed in the village for many days and nights in order to capture the nuances of day-to-day life of the deaf Bedouins. I formed an intimate relationship with these marvelous people, learning Sign Language as I went along. I captured many hours of El-Sayed's unique Sign Language where gestures and facial expressions say it all.  
 

What were some of the biggest challenges/surprises? 
I had many challenges while making the film and many, many dear moments of excitement and surprises. I had to make a film in a very conservative community where a camera is a rare thing to be seen. This is why my filmmaking was very gentle and sensitive, always respecting the delicate nuances of the local community. After many months of staying in the village I became part of it.

I had to learn Sign Language in order to have an intimate relationship with the deaf people of the village. Learning Sign Language from the villagers themselves is a very exciting thing.

While I was working In El-Sayed, I met Ruayda, a 17-year-old deaf Bedouin girl from the village. In a very gradual way we started to work together in what turned out to be her poetic and moving video-diary, which is delicately woven into the movie. 
 
 

What other projects are in the pipeline? 
I have two powerful new projects in development right now. Both of them are touching in a new and fascinating way the catastrophic violent conflict in my country. Unfortunately, Israel is a haven for documentary drama.

Both of the projects will take the viewer on a rare voyage to the heart of the political turmoil in my region, telling the story of small hopes emerging from the horrors of war.    

Why did you become a filmmaker? 
As an Israeli my direct contact with the political, cultural and social conflicts in my region are personal and emotional. The many troubles in my homeland keep me awake at nights. But the world can be a better place. It is indeed possible!

It is up to us to change reality and bring peace and understanding between all.

As a documentary filmmaker my job is to change public opinion - this is my goal. Through my films I wish to reach out to people's minds and hearts and change the inhumane and unjust way people treat one another.  
 

Did you go to film school?
Yes, I have successfully graduated the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School in 2003. 
 
 
 

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen since taking the film on the festival circuit? 
Juma El-Sayed, a deaf Bedouin from El-Sayed, one of the leading subjects of my film and one of my dearest friends flew with me to Prague to attend the European premier of the film in the One World Human Rights Film Festival. It was indeed an overwhelming experience for both of us as standing ovations ended our Q&A done in Sign Language.