EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
Runtime: 69 minutes
Multi-talented trailblazing Deaf and Deafblind women are front and center in these six stories that celebrate their extraordinary accomplishments.
Program lineup:
RENEGADES: KITTY O’NEIL
THE RAD SCIENTIST
ELSA
BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
GETTING PERSONAL w/ LUCINDA LAWSON
ART 21: CHRISTINE SUN KIM
ID: A poster for “Renegades: Kitty O’Neil” with a faded colored picture of a brown-haired white woman in a yellow race suit, waving out of her red racing car, with white letters on the side saying “Space Age Racing: World’s Fastest Dragster”. On the left upper corner, black background with white letters: “December 6th, 1976, Kitty O’Neil became the fastest woman in the world.’ with a red stripe next to the black corner. The bottom of the poster has the logo of American Masters and PBS with #AmericanMastersPBS.
RENEGADES: KITTY O’NEIL
Short | United States| 9 Minutes | American Sign Language
Director: Day Al-Mohamed
Kitty O’Neil (1946-2018) was a racecar driver, stunt legend, and daredevil. Known as “the fastest woman in the world,” O’Neil broke the land speed record in 1976. The first woman to join with Stunts Unlimited, the leading stunt agency in Hollywood, O’Neil was also a stunt double for the iconic stars of both The Bionic Woman (Lindsay Wagner) and Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) on television. And she also happened to be Deaf.
ID: A poster for “The Rad Scientist” with the title in white and red on a purple block on top with subtitle above: “Megan Clancy is”. Below is an illustrated white silhouette of a woman with a scrunchie ponytail to one side and large naredy glasses. Behind her is a field of graph lines with atom symbols dotted around within a pink border around the poster.
THE RAD SCIENTIST
Short | United States| 6 Minutes | American Sign Language
Director: Paul Sprangers
A Deaf woman scientist is experimenting with quantum physics in her lab on New Year’s Eve 1987. When she discovers a portal through time and space, she decides to use her scientific powers in unexpected ways. This funny and unique story from filmmaker Paul Sprangers is a delightful surprise.
ID: A poster for “Elsa” with the title in purple on bottom, superimposed over a photo of a bespectacled woman holding a red umbrella. Text across top in white: “PBS struck FOLD with ELSA” - Times Union”. Purple text on a slant below the woman: “A Film by Cameron S Mitchell”. Additional text in white on left side: “Relevant to all audiences… a powerful film - Respectability”, “Brilliant! - Film Carnage”. Several icons for film awards in white across the bottom around the film title.
ELSA
Short | United States| 8 Minutes | English
Director: Cameron S. Mitchell
Elsa Sjunneson is a Deafblind professor, media critic, fencer and hiker who is also a published author who has written for Marvel Comics and won the Hugo award for Science Fiction twice. This multi-talented marvel who calls Seattle home challenges us to view the world through a different lens as she blazes her own path.
ID: A poster for “Breaking the Sound Barrier” with the title in dark text on a neutral background, with an image of a man standing next to a firetruck. Text on top: “Starring candice Luhreman, directed by Chloe Gardner, with thanks to Lyndal Denny. Logos for three film awards are on the top right corner: Yellowstone International Film Festival, Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, and Together! Diversity Film Festival.”
BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
Short | Australia | 5 minutes | Australian Sign Language
Director: Chloe Hannah Gardner
Truck driving is a profession that isn’t often associated with women, much less Deaf women, but Candice Lureman is a force to be reckoned with. As Australia’s first Deaf woman truck driver, Candice has persevered through sexism and audism to prove that Deaf women can do anything.
GETTING PERSONAL WITH LUCINDHA LAWSON
Short | United Kingdom | 28 Minutes | British Sign Language
Director: Angela Spielsinger
Futsal is a variation of soccer played mainly indoors on a hardcourt, and Lucindha Lawson recently made history as the first Deaf Asian woman to win gold for England in the European Women’s Deaf Futsal Championship. In this conversation with Deaf TV host Deepa Shastri, Lawson discusses how she navigated a difficult childhood to become the thriving athlete she is today.
Content warnings: Discussion of suicide
ID: A poster for “Getting Personal” with the title in white on a tan block across the top, with subtitle: “with Lucindha Lawson” below. An image of a dark-skinned woman with her hair up in a bun and dressed in a sports uniform below. Additional text in black across the bottom.
ID: A poster for “Art in the Twenty-First Century” with the title in white on the top left side. A picture of a woman wearing a black shirt is in the center, signing the sign for “center” . Actor’s names in white across the top: “Linda Goode Bryant, Miranda July, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Christine Sun Kim.” Text below the title: “Season 11 - Episode 3, Friends & Strangers, Christine Sun Kim.” Additional film details in white across the bottom.
ART 21: CHRISTINE SUN KIM
Short | United States| 14 Minutes | American Sign Language
Director: Chiemi Karasawa
Christine Sun Kim is a celebrated multi-talented Deaf artist who works within a number of different media including drawing, painting, video, performance and sound. In this fascinating profile, Kim discusses her career trajectory and approach to art, as well as her unique way of seeing the world and how that informs her creative work.