Power in Our Hands

Ground-breaking documentary that uses archive film to tell the story of the British Deaf community’s fight for civil rights.

This ground-breaking documentary uses newly digitised archive film to tell the 20th-century history of the British deaf community’s fight for civil rights. A range of participants look back on a selection of archive films preserved by the British Deaf Association, each of which capture key moments in the history and heritage of the UK’s Deaf community. Contributors also highlight the unique role played by the medium of film in recording the use and development of British Sign Language throughout Britain’s Deaf associations.

Not just a fascinating exposé of a largely unseen cache of film history, Power in Our Hands is also an inspiring, emancipatory chronicle of the Deaf community’s fight for civil rights – and the right to be heard.