Film about a deaf child supported by a social worker wins Oscar

A film about a profoundly deaf child who is helped by a social worker to communicate has scooped an Academy Award.

The Silent Child, starring six-year old Maisie Sly and Rachel Shenton, won Best Live Action Short at the 2018 Academy Awards on Sunday.

The short picture tells the story of Libby (Sly), a four-year old child in a middle-class family in rural England who is profoundly deaf. Her hearing parents, uneducated about their daughter’s condition, receive the help of a deaf-specialised social worker (Shenton) who opens the doors of communication to Libby using sign language.

Sly herself is deaf and Shenton, the film’s writer, is an advocate of raising deaf awareness after her father lost his hearing suddenly when she was 12. She accepted the award at the ceremony using sign language during her speech.

The actress, and the film’s director Chris Overton, have both previously acted in the soap Hollyoaks.

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