00:00:00.583 --> 00:00:02.583
To the unconditional ones:
Claudia, Sofia and Fernando

00:00:02.918 --> 00:00:04.000
-Much.
-Much.

00:00:04.168 --> 00:00:05.625
-Little.
-Little.

00:00:06.293 --> 00:00:08.375
-In front of.
-In front of.

00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:10.875
-Behind.
-Behind.

00:00:18.750 --> 00:00:21.043
-That's it?
-That's it.

00:00:21.293 --> 00:00:24.043
-Let's read another one.
-Oh! We're missing one!

00:00:25.125 --> 00:00:28.583
Kite.
Kite.

00:00:28.833 --> 00:00:31.083
-Kite.
-Kite.

00:00:33.333 --> 00:00:35.418
-Robot.
-Robot.

00:00:37.250 --> 00:00:39.668
-Teddy bear.
-Terry bear.

00:00:40.083 --> 00:00:42.083
Teddy bear.

00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:43.875
Terry bear.

00:00:44.043 --> 00:00:45.958
No! Teddy bear!

00:00:48.043 --> 00:00:50.125
Teddy bear!

00:01:02.833 --> 00:01:04.958
Produced by
Charo Mato

00:01:05.125 --> 00:01:09.043
No, this is...oil.

00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:11.333
No, look, it's oil.

00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:14.375
Charo?

00:01:15.583 --> 00:01:16.918
Look at Daddy.

00:01:18.208 --> 00:01:20.418
Charito? Look at Daddy.

00:01:21.333 --> 00:01:22.375
Chari?

00:01:23.625 --> 00:01:26.125
Written and directed by
Charo Mato

00:01:27.625 --> 00:01:28.668
Open...

00:01:28.875 --> 00:01:30.043
Pen...

00:01:30.375 --> 00:01:32.418
No, open!

00:01:33.043 --> 00:01:34.208
Open.

00:01:34.375 --> 00:01:35.793
Closed.

00:01:35.958 --> 00:01:36.918
Clos.

00:01:37.083 --> 00:01:38.168
No, closed!

00:01:38.333 --> 00:01:39.250
Crosed.

00:01:39.418 --> 00:01:40.793
No, closed!

00:01:42.208 --> 00:01:43.918
I don't understand...

00:01:44.458 --> 00:01:46.668
-Repeat after me: "Clo..."
-Clo...

00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.668
-...close...
-...close...

00:01:49.918 --> 00:01:51.833
-...closed.
-...closed.

00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:05.708
EIGHT STORIES
About my hearing loss

00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:16.958
I wonder how to start,

00:02:17.375 --> 00:02:20.250
these words were not
part of my plans,

00:02:20.793 --> 00:02:24.458
but writing to you
may be the way of doing it.

00:02:24.918 --> 00:02:26.293
One, two and...

00:02:27.168 --> 00:02:28.793
...there!

00:02:30.543 --> 00:02:33.500
There's so much
I want to tell you!

00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:41.918
May we come in?

00:02:42.458 --> 00:02:43.833
A slice of cake...

00:02:44.083 --> 00:02:47.125
I thought my film was ready,
but it wasn't.

00:02:47.293 --> 00:02:48.708
You're not in it.

00:03:00.708 --> 00:03:03.083
I wish things had been different.

00:03:04.793 --> 00:03:07.125
Less arguing.

00:03:15.875 --> 00:03:17.543
1. The Diagnosis?

00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:23.875
Progressive bilateral
sensorineural hearing loss

00:03:30.543 --> 00:03:32.833
I'm turning 30.

00:03:34.833 --> 00:03:37.793
What I know is what you told me.

00:03:40.833 --> 00:03:44.418
I was born on a cold Saturday
in the fall of 1990.

00:03:47.293 --> 00:03:49.583
Your water broke
right before leaving

00:03:49.750 --> 00:03:51.918
to a family dinner at Dora's.

00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:56.708
They rushed to the clinic
in a yellow Taunus.

00:03:57.375 --> 00:04:00.875
Dad drove down the avenue
waving a white hankie.

00:04:02.458 --> 00:04:06.543
You were wearing
a woolen dress, also white,

00:04:07.293 --> 00:04:09.083
which got soaking wet.

00:04:27.918 --> 00:04:29.458
The day you were born...

00:04:30.333 --> 00:04:33.668
...I worked all day,
did all sorts of stuff.

00:04:33.958 --> 00:04:38.208
We were about to move house
and I think that...

00:04:39.375 --> 00:04:41.833
...I'd been on my feet all day.

00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.750
Godparents, are you ready
to help the parents

00:04:52.375 --> 00:04:55.168
in their duty as Christian parents?

00:04:55.333 --> 00:04:56.375
We are.

00:04:59.333 --> 00:05:03.208
Contractions told me
I had to stop

00:05:03.458 --> 00:05:05.543
which I hadn't done all day.

00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.543
That day, I'd woken up at 8 am
and it was 11 pm...

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.543
You were born at 11.30,
I had just stopped at 11.

00:05:18.125 --> 00:05:21.250
Whenever you told me this,
you would highlight

00:05:21.418 --> 00:05:23.458
I was set on being a Taurus

00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:27.625
since a few minutes later
would have meant being a Gemini.

00:05:27.918 --> 00:05:30.668
You said it so many times
that I came to think

00:05:31.125 --> 00:05:34.958
maybe if I was a Gemini
I wouldn't have hearing loss.

00:05:37.958 --> 00:05:40.625
They say us Taurus are stubborn.

00:05:41.833 --> 00:05:43.793
I guess you were right.

00:06:02.418 --> 00:06:05.918
You loved saying
that I was an undocumented baby.

00:06:06.208 --> 00:06:08.293
That it took 6 months
to register my birth

00:06:08.875 --> 00:06:11.208
because the name you chose
was banned.

00:06:12.293 --> 00:06:13.708
Oh, no! They're fighting!

00:06:15.375 --> 00:06:16.708
Chari!

00:06:20.208 --> 00:06:22.000
And you filed a lawsuit

00:06:22.250 --> 00:06:24.750
so I got a name
no one had heard before.

00:06:25.083 --> 00:06:26.293
Charo!

00:06:26.625 --> 00:06:27.708
Give it to him.

00:06:28.750 --> 00:06:30.083
Give it to him!

00:06:33.458 --> 00:06:37.668
Happy birthday to you

00:06:37.875 --> 00:06:41.668
Happy birthday, little Charo...

00:07:03.958 --> 00:07:08.333
I don't remember
my first-year teacher well,

00:07:09.418 --> 00:07:11.625
but it was her who noticed
something was off about me

00:07:11.793 --> 00:07:13.208
and called you.

00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:21.043
I could solve Math problems

00:07:21.208 --> 00:07:23.750
but I wrote nonsense
during dictations.

00:07:25.793 --> 00:07:27.708
My mind would make everything up.

00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:30.625
I empowered it to do so.

00:07:33.543 --> 00:07:35.000
Look this way, little clown.

00:07:39.833 --> 00:07:43.418
Then, I was able to write
through lip-reading.

00:07:46.168 --> 00:07:48.208
Hey, clown!

00:07:48.375 --> 00:07:49.793
Clown!

00:07:56.333 --> 00:07:58.418
2 to 9. Take one.

00:08:02.708 --> 00:08:06.418
-Alright, Dad. You may start.
-OK.

00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:09.208
Don't mind the camera...

00:08:09.875 --> 00:08:13.083
Today's dish is...

00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.833
...seafood spaghetti.

00:08:18.293 --> 00:08:22.963
Garlic, mussels, prawns, clams,

00:08:23.130 --> 00:08:26.168
tomato, white wine...

00:08:26.708 --> 00:08:29.625
...staple Italian food...

00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:33.043
...served here, in Buenos Aires.

00:08:37.418 --> 00:08:39.583
I've never felt deaf.

00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.083
Even though I am. In fact...

00:08:43.375 --> 00:08:47.500
...I embraced deafness
because of you.

00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:52.293
I had never felt like a deaf person

00:08:52.543 --> 00:08:53.875
but not out of denial!

00:08:54.125 --> 00:08:55.918
Well, maybe I was in denial.

00:08:56.168 --> 00:09:00.043
But I hadn't attached to it
the significance

00:09:00.875 --> 00:09:06.543
and implications that came
later, you know?

00:09:12.543 --> 00:09:13.708
What did you and Mum do

00:09:13.875 --> 00:09:15.333
when you knew
about my hearing loss?

00:09:16.708 --> 00:09:19.958
I knew you'd ask.
I've completely blanked out on it.

00:09:21.125 --> 00:09:24.333
I don't recall, honey. I don't.

00:09:24.458 --> 00:09:28.833
I do remember
looking into hearing aids, but...

00:09:29.668 --> 00:09:31.375
...I don't remember shit.

00:09:32.458 --> 00:09:33.708
I don't.

00:09:35.668 --> 00:09:37.918
I think that for Mom...

00:09:41.458 --> 00:09:44.958
...although it didn't torment her,

00:09:45.125 --> 00:09:49.750
I mean, she wasn't like
"my poor daughter is disabled",

00:09:50.083 --> 00:09:53.793
in fact, it was the opposite.

00:09:53.958 --> 00:09:58.043
Neither of them ever treated you
as if you were disabled.

00:09:58.458 --> 00:10:00.833
They didn't see it as a disability.

00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.543
Us family, never saw that way.

00:10:03.833 --> 00:10:07.083
That wasn't the attitude we took.

00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:11.750
For some families,
you know, it's a tragedy.

00:10:12.043 --> 00:10:14.293
Having hearing or vision problems.

00:10:14.750 --> 00:10:18.375
It's a stigma. But neither
of them treated you that way.

00:10:22.375 --> 00:10:25.375
So, Leandro,
whose name tag do you have?

00:10:33.583 --> 00:10:36.668
-And you, Rodrigo?
-Sebastian's.

00:10:45.458 --> 00:10:46.793
When at age 6,

00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.583
I was diagnosed
with moderate to severe

00:10:49.750 --> 00:10:52.293
bilateral sensorineural
hearing loss,

00:10:52.458 --> 00:10:55.458
I asked you what those words meant.

00:10:58.458 --> 00:10:59.875
Lights out!

00:11:06.918 --> 00:11:10.083
I didn't know that time
and hormonal changes,

00:11:10.708 --> 00:11:14.168
would inevitably
lead me to deafness.

00:11:16.293 --> 00:11:18.208
After you were tested,
they told you

00:11:18.375 --> 00:11:23.418
it was a genetic condition by which
you would gradually go deaf.

00:11:29.793 --> 00:11:32.458
We parents refuse to face the truth.

00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:38.125
Our children are perfect.
No one can say otherwise.

00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.750
They have to impose it on you.

00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:51.708
We are in constant denial.

00:11:52.168 --> 00:11:55.168
Until you're forced to confront it.

00:12:00.668 --> 00:12:04.583
I think of the unknown threshold
that keeps us apart.

00:12:08.168 --> 00:12:12.125
And the moment I knew
it what the threshold of words,

00:12:12.583 --> 00:12:16.958
when they explained me
the results of my first audiometry.

00:12:18.125 --> 00:12:21.625
They said I'd still understand
language for a while,

00:12:22.168 --> 00:12:25.083
but eventually, I no longer would.

00:12:34.083 --> 00:12:36.625
Doctors came and went,

00:12:37.168 --> 00:12:39.500
you were very nervous.

00:12:43.168 --> 00:12:44.750
You were told to relax.

00:12:45.333 --> 00:12:49.793
That I already knew how to talk,
and that was the hardest part.

00:12:51.958 --> 00:12:53.668
When I first tried the hearing aid,

00:12:54.250 --> 00:12:58.833
they asked me to describe
what I heard: voices, noises.

00:13:01.333 --> 00:13:03.918
Those were their voices,
the usual ones,

00:13:04.293 --> 00:13:06.083
but not anymore.

00:13:07.418 --> 00:13:09.583
I could not define it
until I started to say:

00:13:09.875 --> 00:13:12.668
"I feel your voice inside a cave,

00:13:12.833 --> 00:13:16.293
and there is a radio
in the background badly tuned."

00:13:23.375 --> 00:13:26.125
Hearing that way wasn't bad,
but it was odd.

00:13:26.293 --> 00:13:27.793
I didn't want hearing aids.

00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:32.750
I'd be the only girl at school
with that weird gadget.

00:13:34.043 --> 00:13:38.918
I was so afraid of being mocked
that I told you and Dad,

00:13:39.125 --> 00:13:42.083
that I'd rather use one hearing aid
hidden from sight

00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:43.583
than two more powerful

00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:46.293
yet less
aesthetically pleasing ones.

00:13:53.875 --> 00:13:56.750
I was a child who didn't
still know how she'd hear.

00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:01.333
And how hard it'd get
along the years.

00:14:06.250 --> 00:14:08.543
2. The Threshold of Words

00:14:08.750 --> 00:14:11.708
How do we understand language?

00:14:29.168 --> 00:14:31.208
It'll be a silent film.

00:14:37.458 --> 00:14:39.668
How did you and Grandma
deal with it?

00:14:39.833 --> 00:14:40.918
Any memories?

00:14:41.083 --> 00:14:42.293
How do you mean?

00:14:42.668 --> 00:14:43.625
Dad's hearing loss.

00:14:43.793 --> 00:14:45.250
Why didn't you get him
a hearing aid?

00:14:45.458 --> 00:14:47.793
Don't ask me that. I mean...

00:14:48.333 --> 00:14:50.250
It's not that...You know?

00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:52.958
Maybe she can explain it better.

00:14:53.250 --> 00:14:54.625
We assimilated it.

00:14:55.875 --> 00:14:57.708
Alright? It was never an issue.

00:14:57.875 --> 00:14:59.833
In his daily life...

00:15:00.708 --> 00:15:04.168
...with his siblings,
at home, he was normal.

00:15:04.543 --> 00:15:08.375
The problem blew up at school.
Attention problems.

00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:11.250
His trouble tuning in.

00:15:11.793 --> 00:15:14.750
It started there.
But the hearing aid...

00:15:24.168 --> 00:15:26.333
Alright.
Please, have a seat.

00:15:27.333 --> 00:15:30.708
You'll hear some sounds
through these headphones.

00:15:30.875 --> 00:15:33.543
Some will be very soft.

00:15:33.625 --> 00:15:35.958
Raise one hand
as soon as you hear something.

00:15:36.043 --> 00:15:38.125
-Put it down when it stops.
-OK.

00:15:43.250 --> 00:15:44.208
There.

00:15:58.750 --> 00:16:00.208
I was in the fifth grade.

00:16:00.543 --> 00:16:04.125
I remember my teacher.
A very large woman. Huge.

00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.918
She told my mum
I was getting distracted too often.

00:16:08.543 --> 00:16:11.000
Teachers can tell...

00:16:11.333 --> 00:16:15.125
...a distracted kid is having
sight or hearing trouble.

00:16:24.793 --> 00:16:26.418
So, my mother...

00:16:26.708 --> 00:16:29.668
...took me for an audiometry.

00:16:31.918 --> 00:16:37.918
On our way there,
I knew I'd have my hearing checked.

00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:40.708
I told my mum

00:16:41.293 --> 00:16:44.208
that I could hear
grandma's watch tick

00:16:44.418 --> 00:16:47.333
with one ear,
but not with the other.

00:16:47.918 --> 00:16:49.708
-Can you hear me talking to you?
-Yes.

00:16:49.918 --> 00:16:51.625
I'll be telling you words.

00:16:51.918 --> 00:16:53.500
Repeat whatever you hear,

00:16:53.668 --> 00:16:56.125
even if it doesn't
make sense to you.

00:16:58.293 --> 00:16:59.708
-Car.
-Car.

00:16:59.958 --> 00:17:01.333
-House.
-House.

00:17:01.875 --> 00:17:03.668
-Table.
-Table.

00:17:04.543 --> 00:17:06.250
-Roof.
-Roof.

00:17:06.458 --> 00:17:08.208
-Book.
-Book.

00:17:08.543 --> 00:17:10.375
-Laugh.
-Cough.

00:17:11.833 --> 00:17:13.958
-Ruler.
-Roller.

00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.625
-Bed.
-Bed.

00:17:18.418 --> 00:17:19.500
Hair.

00:17:21.918 --> 00:17:22.958
Car.

00:17:25.958 --> 00:17:28.375
Hand.

00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:34.333
Alright.

00:17:42.250 --> 00:17:43.500
From what I gather,

00:17:43.668 --> 00:17:45.875
your first audiometries
are from 1983.

00:17:45.958 --> 00:17:48.168
Then some more in 1998,
and now this one.

00:17:48.293 --> 00:17:50.208
The one from 1983

00:17:50.708 --> 00:17:52.208
meant to prove I was deaf

00:17:52.375 --> 00:17:54.750
so I could skip
the military service.

00:17:55.083 --> 00:17:58.543
I was told that
I might lose all hearing

00:17:58.708 --> 00:18:01.250
if I had to train at a gun range.

00:18:01.543 --> 00:18:05.583
I don't remember
why I had one in 1998. Go figure.

00:18:05.958 --> 00:18:08.583
-Probably a routine checkup.
-I guess so.

00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:10.875
-Would you say...
-Hold on.

00:18:11.293 --> 00:18:15.293
It was because I'd been diagnosed,
so they wanted to check on you.

00:18:15.458 --> 00:18:18.168
-That's right.
-Can we go back a bit?

00:18:18.625 --> 00:18:21.750
Okay. Let's do a second take.

00:18:27.375 --> 00:18:33.918
No one in the family ever felt
you weren't listening to them.

00:18:34.293 --> 00:18:35.458
It was never an issue.

00:18:35.625 --> 00:18:37.958
That was really subjective.

00:18:38.583 --> 00:18:42.875
People could tell you didn't hear
when they talked to you from behind.

00:18:43.043 --> 00:18:47.293
-Right.
-Face to face you always did fine.

00:18:48.375 --> 00:18:51.583
No one in the family
ever doubted your hearing.

00:18:52.083 --> 00:18:54.208
Acoustic reflex.

00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:00.000
It didn't seem so serious
as the idea we have of being deaf.

00:19:00.168 --> 00:19:03.708
-Right.
-Charo's a whole different thing.

00:19:03.875 --> 00:19:07.708
She wouldn't hear you
even when you were in front of her.

00:19:07.918 --> 00:19:09.125
It was different.

00:19:09.293 --> 00:19:15.333
I can see that your left ear
outperforms the right one.

00:19:15.833 --> 00:19:17.918
There's hearing loss
in both, though.

00:19:18.083 --> 00:19:18.793
I know.

00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.668
Look at the 1,000 frequency,
which is crucial

00:19:21.668 --> 00:19:25.458
to know where the limit
of words lies for you.

00:19:25.625 --> 00:19:27.418
You can understand words

00:19:27.583 --> 00:19:30.668
if that frequency
is above 50 decibels.

00:19:30.958 --> 00:19:34.418
It's barely there in one ear,
in the other it's lower.

00:19:34.750 --> 00:19:37.833
Which means
you can get away with it.

00:19:37.958 --> 00:19:40.293
You can manage.

00:19:40.625 --> 00:19:45.708
Based on this audiometry
and to stop any further loss,

00:19:46.333 --> 00:19:48.168
a hearing aid would be ideal.

00:19:48.668 --> 00:19:52.500
I'll be using hearing aids
about ten years from now.

00:19:52.668 --> 00:19:55.083
When my hearing worsens with age...

00:19:55.625 --> 00:19:57.583
...and I still want to hear things.

00:19:57.958 --> 00:20:01.250
For the time being,
my hearing is fine, considering.

00:20:01.793 --> 00:20:04.543
Under the circumstances,
it's not a big deal.

00:20:36.083 --> 00:20:38.625
The songs we heard with that first
hearing aid

00:20:38.793 --> 00:20:40.793
are still my acoustic memories.

00:20:44.208 --> 00:20:46.418
Two or three
are enough for me.

00:20:46.583 --> 00:20:47.958
One was Uncle Jose's song.

00:20:48.333 --> 00:20:49.918
He'd pick me up and sing:

00:20:50.625 --> 00:20:52.125
"Something in your face
fascinates me,

00:20:52.293 --> 00:20:53.793
something in your face
gives me life,

00:20:53.958 --> 00:20:57.043
I guess it is your smile."

00:21:00.918 --> 00:21:02.333
And your ballet and records

00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:05.168
to teach your dance lessons
in Bolivar.

00:21:05.625 --> 00:21:08.833
"¿Dónde están los ladrones"
and "El amor después del amor".

00:21:16.125 --> 00:21:18.543
Water is a strong memory.

00:21:18.833 --> 00:21:22.918
I feel it was born
when you took us to see the whales.

00:21:25.293 --> 00:21:26.918
I can feel the tide

00:21:27.083 --> 00:21:29.375
and wake up
with the frozen southern sea

00:21:29.543 --> 00:21:31.083
crashing on the rocks.

00:21:35.625 --> 00:21:37.043
The breathing of a whale

00:21:37.208 --> 00:21:40.083
almost soaking my hearing aid.

00:21:42.543 --> 00:21:46.875
I feel the sea in its silence
and its noise,

00:21:47.875 --> 00:21:50.293
even when there is nothing left.

00:22:00.208 --> 00:22:02.333
3. Genetics?

00:22:02.500 --> 00:22:04.250
My blood

00:22:18.250 --> 00:22:20.750
She liked a story,
so one day I said:

00:22:21.125 --> 00:22:24.875
"Let's turn off the light
and I'll tell you that story."

00:22:25.083 --> 00:22:27.333
Arancha replied:

00:22:27.833 --> 00:22:31.625
"Don't turn off the light,
or else I can't hear you."

00:22:53.833 --> 00:22:56.333
I'm Aranzazu Agustina Salgado,

00:22:56.875 --> 00:22:59.708
Asuni Senior
and Manuel Salgado's daughter,

00:23:00.083 --> 00:23:04.083
Rosy and Luis
and Dora and Manuel's granddaughter,

00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:07.083
Mariela and Valeria's sister...

00:23:08.418 --> 00:23:10.000
...and...

00:23:10.293 --> 00:23:12.583
...part of this lineage...

00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:16.418
along with my cousin Charo here...

00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:21.543
...and other hard-of-hearing
cousins in our generation

00:23:21.708 --> 00:23:24.125
and of previous generations.

00:23:29.875 --> 00:23:35.333
I remember sitting
very close to the TV

00:23:36.625 --> 00:23:41.750
and getting frustrated because
I still could not hear it.

00:23:43.043 --> 00:23:45.793
Especially cartoons...

00:23:46.668 --> 00:23:52.708
...since you can't read
the characters' mouths.

00:23:53.625 --> 00:23:56.793
-And Ara? There she is!
-Hello.

00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:02.958
Arancha was the first, you know?

00:24:03.125 --> 00:24:05.668
Your dad had had
poor hearing as a kid,

00:24:05.833 --> 00:24:08.958
which doctors
blamed on the mumps.

00:24:11.125 --> 00:24:12.458
Arancha!

00:24:14.958 --> 00:24:19.043
I would call her name
and she didn't turn around.

00:24:19.458 --> 00:24:21.125
But she could be confusing.

00:24:21.293 --> 00:24:23.958
Maybe she was upstairs showering

00:24:24.293 --> 00:24:26.958
it started to rain
and she would say:

00:24:27.543 --> 00:24:29.583
"Listen to the raindrops."

00:24:40.168 --> 00:24:44.543
I would like to offer
this ritual prayer

00:24:44.875 --> 00:24:47.583
you and I are about
to say here today

00:24:48.833 --> 00:24:52.793
for all hearing-impaired beings...

00:24:53.333 --> 00:24:56.083
...especially our lineage...

00:24:57.375 --> 00:25:00.625
...so that the generations
to come...

00:25:01.583 --> 00:25:05.293
...can live without hearing loss.
What about that?

00:25:05.958 --> 00:25:10.833
I didn't start seeing it
as a flaw overnight.

00:25:11.250 --> 00:25:13.958
I guess it happened naturally.

00:25:14.458 --> 00:25:16.500
Hearing loss, I mean.

00:25:16.833 --> 00:25:20.793
Also, as a child
I was like a sponge,

00:25:20.958 --> 00:25:22.958
so I learned to read lips

00:25:23.125 --> 00:25:26.125
and no one fully realized
I couldn't hear,

00:25:26.375 --> 00:25:30.293
as lip-reading allowed me
to reply to them.

00:25:30.625 --> 00:25:32.668
If they called me I would turn

00:25:32.833 --> 00:25:34.625
or I'd listen when it rained.

00:25:34.793 --> 00:25:37.043
So, they didn't fully get
what happened to me.

00:25:49.750 --> 00:25:51.583
What an idiot. Indeed.

00:25:54.043 --> 00:25:55.668
I taught myself how to read lips

00:25:55.918 --> 00:25:58.043
by observing people's mouths.

00:25:58.293 --> 00:26:00.793
Working out
where they place their tongues.

00:26:10.708 --> 00:26:12.418
I also feel that...

00:26:13.833 --> 00:26:17.958
...not being able to hear
anymore was confusing.

00:26:18.208 --> 00:26:20.458
I didn't really know how to...

00:26:22.833 --> 00:26:25.833
...how to process it,
emotions got stuck in my body,

00:26:26.043 --> 00:26:27.708
I became a child with anger issues.

00:26:28.333 --> 00:26:30.875
I was mean to other beings.

00:26:33.875 --> 00:26:39.833
-Like Sofi and me.
-Sorry for my abusive behavior.

00:26:40.625 --> 00:26:45.083
-You were really bossy.
-"Do as I say!"

00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.708
See? That's what I meant.

00:27:12.333 --> 00:27:18.000
Suffering from hearing loss
prevents me...

00:27:18.333 --> 00:27:22.458
...from having all the conversations
I'd like to have.

00:27:22.875 --> 00:27:26.250
I'm afraid of going off topic,

00:27:26.418 --> 00:27:28.583
or misinterpreting things.

00:27:28.833 --> 00:27:32.543
Unless I'm around people I know,

00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.000
I restrict my conversation.

00:27:56.958 --> 00:28:01.500
Once, Martin was at our place.

00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:05.708
I called his name
and he didn't turn around.

00:28:06.793 --> 00:28:09.168
I said: "This kid can't hear."

00:28:10.750 --> 00:28:15.168
Then, when he was six,
the school called Marita

00:28:15.333 --> 00:28:17.875
and she came asking
for Arancha's tests.

00:28:18.333 --> 00:28:25.000
Both of them had exactly
the same problem.

00:28:25.958 --> 00:28:29.543
And then you came along,
suffering from the same condition.

00:28:30.793 --> 00:28:33.000
In vocals and guitar,
Andres Calamaro.

00:28:45.043 --> 00:28:47.625
I got my first hearing aid at 12,

00:28:47.833 --> 00:28:49.625
when I was in 7th grade.

00:28:51.583 --> 00:28:54.833
I had a hard time
adjusting to it

00:28:55.083 --> 00:28:57.458
and admitting
my hearing problems.

00:28:57.793 --> 00:29:01.083
I gradually became aware of it.

00:29:03.418 --> 00:29:07.458
Martin's was a more severe
case of hearing loss,

00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:11.625
and I gradually realized
I was in a similar situation.

00:29:12.668 --> 00:29:15.250
Especially when voices came
from behind.

00:29:15.918 --> 00:29:18.375
This made me
a real target for bullies.

00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:20.708
-Really?
-Yes.

00:29:21.375 --> 00:29:23.083
It got pretty rough.

00:29:26.168 --> 00:29:30.250
It made me understand
many things about life...

00:29:31.208 --> 00:29:33.418
...how impatient people can get.

00:29:33.918 --> 00:29:37.625
The world has no patience
for the hard-of-hearing.

00:29:38.793 --> 00:29:42.583
-Shall I cut them in half?
-You'll get more sandwiches.

00:29:43.293 --> 00:29:46.583
-I feel observed.
-Yes, I can imagine.

00:29:46.875 --> 00:29:49.625
After three days,
I've gotten used to it.

00:29:50.333 --> 00:29:53.083
-She's a film star by now.
-I'm in my element!

00:29:56.708 --> 00:30:02.168
The thing about hearing loss is...
it becomes your neighbor's problem.

00:30:02.833 --> 00:30:06.000
I started experiencing that
from a young age, see?

00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:08.168
It was a problem for my classmates,

00:30:08.333 --> 00:30:11.083
it was a problem for the teacher.

00:30:12.668 --> 00:30:15.375
Generally speaking,
in my everyday life.

00:30:17.833 --> 00:30:20.958
I also became aware
of my hearing loss rather late.

00:30:21.168 --> 00:30:23.543
I remember that as a little boy...

00:30:24.375 --> 00:30:27.918
I watched cartoons
and remembered all the names.

00:30:28.168 --> 00:30:30.333
Never again was I able to do that...

00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:32.625
...watch dubbed stuff,

00:30:33.043 --> 00:30:35.418
radio, telephones...

00:30:36.168 --> 00:30:37.793
...all that is hard for me.

00:31:03.458 --> 00:31:05.333
There's one thing I discovered

00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:07.458
which merits looking into.

00:31:07.708 --> 00:31:10.250
Is your blood type
positive or negative?

00:31:10.418 --> 00:31:11.418
Negative.

00:31:11.750 --> 00:31:15.125
In this family, everyone with
negative blood type

00:31:15.293 --> 00:31:16.793
suffers from hearing loss.

00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:18.500
I discovered that myself.

00:31:20.458 --> 00:31:21.833
-Arancha?
-Negative.

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:23.250
-A negative?
-Yes.

00:31:23.418 --> 00:31:24.625
I'm A negative.

00:31:24.958 --> 00:31:26.500
I've never asked the rest.

00:31:26.875 --> 00:31:29.125
-Let's ask them!
-Let's do it.

00:31:30.043 --> 00:31:32.250
-Because I doubt your dad is...
-He is.

00:31:32.418 --> 00:31:35.375
-He is A negative.
-Really? There you go.

00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:50.750
It happens.

00:31:51.083 --> 00:31:56.168
I've become a little insecure
due to being hard-of-hearing.

00:31:56.793 --> 00:32:00.918
You know,
the closest thing to hearing loss

00:32:01.208 --> 00:32:04.793
is being surrounded
by people who speak French.

00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:09.458
You won't understand a thing
because they speak another language.

00:32:09.625 --> 00:32:11.375
It's a similar feeling.

00:32:12.375 --> 00:32:16.083
One thing about this
whole hearing loss thing

00:32:16.250 --> 00:32:19.250
is that you hear
much of your own thoughts.

00:32:20.583 --> 00:32:22.458
You don't get easily distracted.

00:32:23.375 --> 00:32:26.875
You tend to overthink.

00:32:27.583 --> 00:32:31.875
That's why all I do is
from an emotional approach,

00:32:32.418 --> 00:32:37.583
it's a way to vent
all this burden inside me.

00:32:41.625 --> 00:32:45.375
-What's your blood type?
-In decibel levels?

00:32:45.625 --> 00:32:48.708
-No, blood type.
-A negative.

00:32:48.875 --> 00:32:50.543
-See? A negative.
-Yeah.

00:32:50.708 --> 00:32:52.125
They're all A negative.

00:32:52.293 --> 00:32:55.000
Arancha, what's your blood type?

00:32:55.875 --> 00:32:57.500
Tell me your blood type.

00:32:58.208 --> 00:32:59.625
-A negative.
-And you, Martin?

00:33:00.543 --> 00:33:02.625
-What's your blood type?
-He says he doesn't know.

00:33:15.833 --> 00:33:18.625
What was your first audiometry like?

00:33:21.375 --> 00:33:25.083
There was an orca poster...

00:33:25.833 --> 00:33:28.500
...which called my attention.

00:33:28.918 --> 00:33:32.375
My speech therapist explained
to me how whales

00:33:32.918 --> 00:33:38.500
communicate using a frequency
which is inaudible to humans.

00:33:51.375 --> 00:33:53.793
4. The ears of the mind.

00:33:53.958 --> 00:33:57.500
What's being hard-of-hearing like?

00:34:25.668 --> 00:34:27.875
I never told you I love the tub

00:34:28.125 --> 00:34:29.625
because while submerged

00:34:29.793 --> 00:34:32.293
our neighbor's footsteps
sound like a heart beating.

00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:35.375
I can also hear
my heartbeats, and feel them

00:34:35.543 --> 00:34:37.668
even when I no longer hear them.

00:34:43.543 --> 00:34:45.375
It's been a while

00:34:45.543 --> 00:34:48.918
since I started questioning
the true sound of things.

00:34:50.918 --> 00:34:54.958
All of my parameters
are made from memories.

00:35:12.750 --> 00:35:17.543
"Hard-of-hearing" for me
means "deaf for life",

00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.793
because it's severe bilateral,
which means I'll be deaf for life.

00:36:17.125 --> 00:36:22.668
I was born with severe
bilateral hearing loss,

00:36:23.208 --> 00:36:24.833
but my parents didn't know.

00:36:25.293 --> 00:36:28.250
When I was 3 months old,
they realized

00:36:28.418 --> 00:36:32.000
I'd connect but couldn't hear.

00:36:32.375 --> 00:36:37.208
So they would drop things
on the floor: books, the cat...

00:36:37.418 --> 00:36:39.833
...I wouldn't respond.

00:36:40.458 --> 00:36:43.543
They immediately took me
to several doctors.

00:36:43.708 --> 00:36:46.125
They all said my mum
was going crazy

00:36:46.293 --> 00:36:48.708
because I'd look at them
and laugh.

00:36:48.918 --> 00:36:51.250
But then a doctor saw me

00:36:51.458 --> 00:36:53.043
and she asked my mum:

00:36:53.208 --> 00:36:55.168
"What do you think?"

00:36:55.333 --> 00:36:57.083
And my mum said
I couldn't hear.

00:36:57.458 --> 00:37:00.208
So they started to run
a bunch of tests

00:37:00.375 --> 00:37:02.458
and realized I couldn't hear.

00:37:05.583 --> 00:37:07.668
When I was 18 months,
I had a surgery

00:37:08.125 --> 00:37:09.958
and they placed my implants.

00:37:32.043 --> 00:37:35.958
Cochlear implants
are electronic devices.

00:37:36.750 --> 00:37:40.833
To date, they are the only
sensory-related devices

00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:44.583
that allow for lost or missing
organs to be reactivated.

00:37:46.043 --> 00:37:48.250
There's an internal unit,

00:37:48.958 --> 00:37:51.418
which is implanted under the skin.

00:37:51.668 --> 00:37:55.668
Along with it,
there's an outside component

00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:57.958
which is placed on the skin;

00:37:58.250 --> 00:38:00.625
the sound processor.

00:38:05.958 --> 00:38:09.708
Tell me what you remember
about seeing a speech therapist

00:38:09.875 --> 00:38:11.500
and why you stopped going.

00:38:11.833 --> 00:38:15.250
I stopped going
because I can speak well now.

00:38:15.418 --> 00:38:18.293
I started going
because I didn't know how to speak.

00:38:18.625 --> 00:38:21.043
I only learned at age 3.

00:38:21.418 --> 00:38:23.833
That's why I needed
a speech therapist.

00:38:24.083 --> 00:38:25.833
How long did you see her?

00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:29.293
You started after being implanted
and stopped at what age?

00:38:30.208 --> 00:38:33.708
Until I was seven, I guess.

00:38:42.250 --> 00:38:45.083
Children with moderate to severe
hearing loss

00:38:45.250 --> 00:38:47.083
can hear with hearing aids.

00:38:48.125 --> 00:38:51.293
That's not the case
for profound hearing loss.

00:38:51.625 --> 00:38:55.168
Children with profound hearing loss
need cochlear implants.

00:38:55.833 --> 00:38:59.125
For a deaf child,
having a cochlear implant

00:38:59.293 --> 00:39:01.125
means discovering sound.

00:39:01.333 --> 00:39:03.958
But, being so young
it feels natural to them

00:39:04.500 --> 00:39:08.083
that they embrace sound very fast.

00:39:08.418 --> 00:39:13.333
It's a whole different story
if you get implanted later in life.

00:39:13.583 --> 00:39:17.125
Rest the elbows firmly.

00:39:18.043 --> 00:39:22.000
Slide your chest and stomach
onto the board.

00:39:47.375 --> 00:39:52.543
Rest your stomach on the board.
Raise your shoulders.

00:39:53.458 --> 00:39:56.875
Kick inside the water.

00:39:58.208 --> 00:39:59.918
Do you enjoy silence?

00:40:00.083 --> 00:40:02.000
What's it like
when you remove your implants?

00:40:02.083 --> 00:40:05.708
It's quiet. Sometimes
there's a lot of shouting at home.

00:40:05.875 --> 00:40:09.708
Plus, my dog barks,
and fights with my cats.

00:40:09.875 --> 00:40:12.543
So, a little silence is like...

00:40:12.958 --> 00:40:14.293
...so peaceful.

00:40:16.625 --> 00:40:18.250
Especially if I'm asleep.

00:40:18.625 --> 00:40:21.833
Because I can dream profoundly.

00:40:50.500 --> 00:40:55.333
When you remove your implants,
is the silence scary?

00:40:56.333 --> 00:40:59.543
No. I love it.
I do. Nothing scary about it.

00:40:59.875 --> 00:41:01.168
Feels strange, though.

00:41:01.333 --> 00:41:04.708
It's as if everyone's gone mute
without the implants.

00:41:04.875 --> 00:41:06.125
It feels strange.

00:41:06.793 --> 00:41:08.918
-What does it sound like?
-It's like...

00:41:10.668 --> 00:41:12.708
Everything goes silent.

00:41:12.958 --> 00:41:18.875
As if you stayed away from home
for more than a month,

00:41:19.043 --> 00:41:21.875
everything is quiet.
No one's there.

00:41:22.208 --> 00:41:23.625
It's like that.

00:41:36.583 --> 00:41:38.000
-Hi.
-Hi.

00:41:40.333 --> 00:41:42.958
What do you remember
about our first few sessions?

00:41:43.125 --> 00:41:45.043
What did I need first?

00:41:45.293 --> 00:41:47.168
When we met,
you were very young.

00:41:47.500 --> 00:41:50.458
You had only one hearing aid.

00:41:51.293 --> 00:41:54.750
Back then, we only had
a few sessions together.

00:41:55.668 --> 00:41:59.168
Since you were not
certified as disabled...

00:41:59.583 --> 00:42:02.000
your treatment was interrupted.

00:42:02.208 --> 00:42:06.833
It was a private treatment
and your parents couldn't afford it.

00:42:08.958 --> 00:42:13.208
It wasn't enough
because your hearing was unilateral.

00:42:13.543 --> 00:42:16.208
You should have had
two hearing aids.

00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:19.543
-Three.
-Three.

00:42:19.833 --> 00:42:21.250
-Free.
-Free.

00:42:21.458 --> 00:42:23.250
-There.
-Fair.

00:42:23.418 --> 00:42:25.043
-Bear.
-Bear.

00:42:25.208 --> 00:42:27.043
-See
-See.

00:42:27.208 --> 00:42:28.708
-Be.
-Be.

00:42:29.043 --> 00:42:31.083
-Judge.
-Smudge.

00:42:31.250 --> 00:42:33.543
-Thin.
-Tin.

00:42:34.043 --> 00:42:36.043
-Light.
-Light.

00:42:37.833 --> 00:42:40.125
Have you ever been bullied?

00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:45.043
In 3rd grade, some kids
started calling me "deaf",

00:42:45.208 --> 00:42:48.500
but, instead of crying,
I stood up for myself.

00:42:48.668 --> 00:42:52.625
I told them, "I'm not deaf,
I'm hard-of-hearing."

00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:56.083
I didn't know it meant the same.

00:42:56.250 --> 00:42:59.500
That's why I said it.
And I told my teacher too.

00:42:59.918 --> 00:43:01.293
And what did they say?

00:43:03.833 --> 00:43:07.125
They sort of walked away...

00:43:27.543 --> 00:43:31.458
I hated you asking the teacher
if she was sitting me at the front.

00:43:32.543 --> 00:43:33.708
I hated it.

00:43:33.875 --> 00:43:35.625
I felt watched.

00:43:38.250 --> 00:43:42.043
I couldn't hear anyone,
their lips were behind me.

00:43:45.875 --> 00:43:50.333
Sometimes I would turn
and read my classmates' lips

00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:52.668
badmouthing me.

00:43:55.668 --> 00:43:58.208
Eventually they realized
what I could do,

00:43:58.375 --> 00:44:02.583
so they started covering
their mouths with their hands.

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.625
I was good at pretending.

00:44:06.208 --> 00:44:08.125
But I couldn't figure them out,

00:44:08.333 --> 00:44:10.250
so I isolated myself and read.

00:44:11.083 --> 00:44:12.543
Hearing loss made me different

00:44:12.708 --> 00:44:14.543
yet no one dared to notice.

00:44:21.208 --> 00:44:23.625
5. What if I stop hearing
altogether?

00:44:23.958 --> 00:44:26.625
I need a miracle.

00:44:35.458 --> 00:44:37.333
Autumn of 2003.

00:44:37.958 --> 00:44:40.668
We didn't still have cellphones.

00:44:43.208 --> 00:44:45.458
A strong storm shook the city.

00:44:48.168 --> 00:44:51.958
You were teaching a class
and no one could reach you.

00:44:54.333 --> 00:44:57.000
I got off the bus
with Sofi to go to school.

00:44:57.625 --> 00:44:59.750
Dad was leaving the country.

00:45:02.250 --> 00:45:04.000
I feared it would get wet,

00:45:04.458 --> 00:45:08.168
but it slipped from my hand
and fell very deep.

00:45:11.750 --> 00:45:13.793
I lost my hearing aid.

00:45:20.875 --> 00:45:24.625
You were always,
and that's your mother's training...

00:45:25.043 --> 00:45:28.293
...both your sister and you,
you were always very careful.

00:45:28.543 --> 00:45:32.918
You valued objects more
than the average kid.

00:45:33.250 --> 00:45:37.418
You were really careful
with your hearing aid.

00:45:38.458 --> 00:45:41.668
It was raining, so you took it off.

00:45:41.875 --> 00:45:43.625
You got off the bus...

00:45:45.750 --> 00:45:46.875
...and you dropped it.

00:45:56.458 --> 00:46:00.125
It was a day like any other,
we started the school activities

00:46:00.293 --> 00:46:04.418
with the usual excitement
of the youngest ones.

00:46:04.918 --> 00:46:10.458
Then you and your sister arrived.
You were really upset, crying,

00:46:10.625 --> 00:46:12.668
and told us you'd lost
your hearing aid

00:46:12.833 --> 00:46:14.375
while crossing Corrientes street.

00:46:14.543 --> 00:46:17.875
You took it off due to the rain,
if I'm not mistaken,

00:46:19.168 --> 00:46:22.208
and you were desperate
because it was really expensive.

00:46:22.375 --> 00:46:26.833
And you didn't have insurance,
and thought you'd never get it back.

00:46:31.125 --> 00:46:34.000
You freaked out
and started to cry

00:46:34.168 --> 00:46:36.168
very nervous and distressed.

00:46:36.333 --> 00:46:39.375
We talked to Mabel, I think.

00:46:39.543 --> 00:46:42.250
And they called Civil Defense.

00:46:47.418 --> 00:46:49.208
The manhole cover was removed.

00:46:49.750 --> 00:46:52.083
They told you not to get
your hopes up,

00:46:52.250 --> 00:46:55.583
as they didn't think
they'd be able to retrieve it.

00:46:57.458 --> 00:46:59.333
I wondered how would
hear from then on

00:46:59.500 --> 00:47:01.750
or how would I tell you
I had lost it.

00:47:13.833 --> 00:47:16.250
And I remember you,
in all your distress,

00:47:16.418 --> 00:47:20.543
sitting by those
green couches over there,

00:47:20.918 --> 00:47:23.543
staring at
Mother Euphrasia's picture,

00:47:23.708 --> 00:47:27.793
I know, because you told me so,
that you prayed to her.

00:47:28.418 --> 00:47:29.793
You asked her
to help you get it back.

00:47:33.500 --> 00:47:37.583
I did as I was told
and prayed to Mother Euphrasia.

00:47:53.293 --> 00:47:55.293
So...

00:47:55.708 --> 00:47:59.125
...yes, I remember, for a change.

00:47:59.293 --> 00:48:00.833
I remember the guy

00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:05.043
coming out from that well
with your hearing aid,

00:48:05.833 --> 00:48:08.543
but he looked
as if he'd recovered

00:48:08.708 --> 00:48:12.418
the diamond from
King Solomon's caves.

00:48:13.293 --> 00:48:15.208
He said: "This is a miracle...

00:48:15.625 --> 00:48:18.375
...it fell on a dust mound,

00:48:18.543 --> 00:48:21.083
I wonder how
it wasn't washed away!".

00:48:22.708 --> 00:48:25.958
It was a proper miracle.

00:48:38.333 --> 00:48:39.708
Chari.

00:48:41.250 --> 00:48:42.293
Chari!

00:48:52.875 --> 00:48:54.918
Hold still! Halt it!

00:48:56.168 --> 00:48:57.333
-You idiot.
-What?

00:48:57.500 --> 00:49:00.875
Stay still for a second.
I'm making a video.

00:49:01.708 --> 00:49:03.293
It's fine, go ahead.

00:49:05.833 --> 00:49:09.168
He says "communicative attitude"
and then he shushes me.

00:49:09.750 --> 00:49:12.875
You deserve it.
You never listen to what others say.

00:49:13.043 --> 00:49:16.293
Point the camera at me, Sofia.
I have a confession to make.

00:49:16.668 --> 00:49:19.043
You complain about
my communicative attitude,

00:49:19.208 --> 00:49:22.333
yet Dad shushes me
when I ask him something.

00:49:23.125 --> 00:49:25.043
As I grew up,
the loss increased.

00:49:25.208 --> 00:49:26.668
Hello, hello.

00:49:28.875 --> 00:49:30.043
Don't film all the time.

00:49:30.625 --> 00:49:32.250
I don't.

00:49:33.625 --> 00:49:34.668
What's up?

00:49:50.833 --> 00:49:54.458
I remember when I told you
I could no longer follow my classes.

00:49:54.793 --> 00:49:56.043
I couldn't keep up.

00:49:56.208 --> 00:49:58.000
You had started studying
to get your degree

00:49:58.168 --> 00:50:00.458
for teaching
differently abled and deaf children.

00:50:01.625 --> 00:50:04.333
You heard about
the disability certification

00:50:04.500 --> 00:50:06.708
to buy me two hearing aids.

00:50:07.250 --> 00:50:09.708
Yet you were terrified
of me feeling weak

00:50:09.875 --> 00:50:14.125
on account of being labeled
a disabled person.

00:50:15.500 --> 00:50:19.293
When you came back at the age 16,
you couldn't understand a thing.

00:50:19.625 --> 00:50:23.793
When I covered my mouth,
language was beyond you.

00:50:24.168 --> 00:50:29.793
You had got used,
throughout your childhood,

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:33.293
to reading lips.
You heard things, too.

00:50:33.625 --> 00:50:36.083
You had auditory capabilities,

00:50:36.250 --> 00:50:40.000
but couldn't make things
intelligible just by hearing them.

00:50:40.208 --> 00:50:41.458
You needed to look.

00:50:41.793 --> 00:50:44.418
Everyone's drunk but you and me.

00:50:44.583 --> 00:50:46.250
The rest...all wasted.

00:50:48.458 --> 00:50:49.833
-Don't you think?
-What?

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:52.833
-Do you agree?
-Yeah!

00:50:53.668 --> 00:50:55.000
Bunch of drunks.

00:50:55.168 --> 00:50:56.958
-But not us.
-What?

00:50:57.125 --> 00:50:59.168
-Not us.
-Who?

00:50:59.333 --> 00:51:01.500
Leave us out of it.

00:51:01.708 --> 00:51:03.793
Right, we're off the hook.

00:51:24.793 --> 00:51:27.293
My friends understood
when I retreated.

00:51:27.583 --> 00:51:29.793
Anything was better
than going around the yard

00:51:29.958 --> 00:51:31.708
trying to listen to what they said

00:51:31.875 --> 00:51:33.333
amid all the screaming.

00:51:35.333 --> 00:51:37.293
I grew to hate recesses.

00:51:59.793 --> 00:52:02.250
You were preparing
for me going completely deaf

00:52:02.418 --> 00:52:03.958
by studying sign language.

00:52:05.083 --> 00:52:07.043
I felt an increasing urge to hear,

00:52:07.583 --> 00:52:09.875
and started to disregard
what others thought

00:52:10.043 --> 00:52:11.500
about my looks or who I was.

00:52:12.750 --> 00:52:14.833
What mattered was how I felt.

00:52:17.833 --> 00:52:21.708
We hoped rehabilitation
would help me continue studying.

00:52:23.043 --> 00:52:26.250
So we obtained
my first disability certification,

00:52:26.543 --> 00:52:29.418
and got my first hearing aid
with frequency modulation,

00:52:36.125 --> 00:52:38.083
There's a group of people,

00:52:38.250 --> 00:52:42.208
that you can find
at special schools for the deaf,

00:52:42.625 --> 00:52:46.583
who advocate sign language

00:52:46.833 --> 00:52:50.083
and for the deaf to be
a separate community.

00:52:50.833 --> 00:52:54.500
If you're deaf,
that's your whole identity.

00:52:54.668 --> 00:52:56.875
Likewise if you're a hearing person.

00:52:57.043 --> 00:53:02.750
Receiving treatment would
compromise your identity.

00:53:03.043 --> 00:53:06.918
A large group of people who worked
at the school where Mum studied

00:53:07.083 --> 00:53:10.750
who thought that way.
They disapproved of implants.

00:53:11.833 --> 00:53:14.750
6. The invisible.

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:18.333
What are silences like?

00:53:20.625 --> 00:53:23.000
Sofi, how does hearing work for you?

00:53:23.458 --> 00:53:24.833
Through an implant.

00:53:26.000 --> 00:53:27.625
Without it, you hear nothing.

00:53:27.793 --> 00:53:28.750
Exactly.

00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.333
What's silence like for you?

00:53:31.500 --> 00:53:32.583
Nice.

00:53:33.333 --> 00:53:34.043
Nice?

00:53:34.458 --> 00:53:36.208
Move your body.

00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:40.000
Move your head.

00:53:40.168 --> 00:53:44.458
To one side...
and then to the other.

00:53:46.543 --> 00:53:51.000
If you need to, open your mouth
to release the stress in your neck.

00:53:51.833 --> 00:53:54.833
Exactly. I get to the point,
which may be far...

00:53:55.333 --> 00:53:57.833
What do you think
acting in a film is like?

00:53:58.668 --> 00:54:03.168
What do you expect and why
would you let me tell your story?

00:54:05.333 --> 00:54:08.375
I don't know.
Maybe I could help others.

00:54:09.250 --> 00:54:12.750
Maybe the next thing I'll say
has nothing to do,

00:54:12.958 --> 00:54:16.793
but I have very low self-esteem.

00:54:18.543 --> 00:54:21.418
And it's very hard for me
to embrace my deafness.

00:54:21.583 --> 00:54:23.875
I don't share it with anyone.

00:54:24.043 --> 00:54:27.043
No one whatsoever.
Only those close to me

00:54:27.208 --> 00:54:29.543
and my family, but no one else.

00:54:29.750 --> 00:54:31.833
It's too difficult for me.

00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:36.293
I can't wear a ponytail
or let my device be seen in any way.

00:54:37.458 --> 00:54:39.833
Would you show it to me?

00:54:40.458 --> 00:54:41.833
-Yes.
-Would you?

00:54:42.043 --> 00:54:43.083
Show me.

00:54:45.875 --> 00:54:48.333
Those earrings look great on you!

00:54:51.043 --> 00:54:53.833
It's so difficult for me...

00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:55.250
-Is it?
-Yeah.

00:54:55.543 --> 00:54:59.043
Close your eyes.
Breathe...

00:54:59.500 --> 00:55:04.043
My parents realized
when I was 18 months old...

00:55:04.708 --> 00:55:08.293
I wasn't developing.
I didn't talk, nothing.

00:55:08.668 --> 00:55:12.583
I yelled, and this
made my father suspicious.

00:55:12.875 --> 00:55:15.375
He picked me up at kindergarten.

00:55:15.875 --> 00:55:18.708
The other kids left
with their parents

00:55:18.875 --> 00:55:20.875
but I'd stay back, very still.

00:55:21.043 --> 00:55:22.333
So...

00:55:23.708 --> 00:55:26.833
He thought that was strange
and he told my mother.

00:55:27.083 --> 00:55:30.418
She screamed into my ear
and realized I was deaf.

00:55:38.375 --> 00:55:39.668
-Chari...
-What?

00:55:39.833 --> 00:55:43.083
They're asking you if you'll study
Image and Sound Design?

00:55:43.375 --> 00:55:44.375
I will.

00:55:44.543 --> 00:55:45.583
I'll turn it off.

00:55:47.750 --> 00:55:50.543
No more going out at night.

00:55:51.418 --> 00:55:55.333
-No more what?
-Going out at night.

00:56:05.833 --> 00:56:08.875
Although my rehabilitation
wasn't going very well,

00:56:09.293 --> 00:56:12.500
I believed I'd be able
to attend a state university.

00:56:14.793 --> 00:56:17.833
So I did what I'd been
advised against.

00:56:19.333 --> 00:56:22.543
I studied Image and Sound Design.

00:56:37.583 --> 00:56:39.083
-Hi, teach.
-Hi.

00:56:39.375 --> 00:56:44.918
My name's Sofia.
I have hearing problems.

00:56:45.083 --> 00:56:47.418
-I need you to wear this.
-Sure.

00:56:47.583 --> 00:56:48.708
-So I can hear you.
-Alright.

00:56:48.875 --> 00:56:49.750
Thanks.

00:57:22.543 --> 00:57:24.208
The mic, please.

00:57:27.375 --> 00:57:28.918
-Sorry.
-Thanks.

00:57:31.250 --> 00:57:34.875
Let's start with the basics.

00:57:35.043 --> 00:57:37.250
First, let's define sound.

00:57:37.418 --> 00:57:42.918
Sound is a mechanical wave.
In other words, a vibration.

00:57:43.208 --> 00:57:49.375
It's energy that can be plotted
as a sine wave, for example.

00:57:49.750 --> 00:57:52.708
There's also
the issue of loudness, OK?

00:57:52.875 --> 00:57:57.083
It's the effect taking place
in your eardrum

00:57:57.250 --> 00:58:00.625
caused by colliding molecules

00:58:00.958 --> 00:58:03.043
which have propagated
due to energy

00:58:03.208 --> 00:58:05.793
being applied
to them at a certain point.

00:58:26.293 --> 00:58:31.500
Remember how happy we were
picking up my second hearing aid?

00:58:32.125 --> 00:58:34.500
Back from spending
holidays with Dad,

00:58:34.668 --> 00:58:37.000
I was to resume my rehabilitation.

00:58:37.668 --> 00:58:40.083
That first night back,
after landing,

00:58:41.168 --> 00:58:44.750
a sharp sound in my left year
woke me up.

00:58:45.293 --> 00:58:49.625
Together, we started looking
for the source of the sound.

00:58:53.708 --> 00:58:56.083
We thought
the toilet tap was open.

00:58:57.333 --> 00:58:58.750
It wasn't.

00:58:59.375 --> 00:59:01.333
And yet I kept hearing it.

00:59:01.918 --> 00:59:04.543
We realized the sound was inside me.

00:59:09.333 --> 00:59:12.418
I had never experienced
such strange tinnitus.

00:59:12.583 --> 00:59:15.708
An endless rattling sound.

00:59:27.333 --> 00:59:29.083
I started having trouble sleeping.

00:59:29.418 --> 00:59:30.833
I heard nothing outside

00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:34.458
while a sharp spring
sounded inside me.

00:59:37.750 --> 00:59:41.500
Unwittingly, I had lost
all the hearing in my left ear.

00:59:42.293 --> 00:59:45.293
I didn't hear
what I thought I was hearing.

00:59:51.293 --> 00:59:55.458
We were told a cochlear implant
was the solution but you refused.

00:59:57.500 --> 01:00:01.000
I started the application process
myself and you got mad.

01:00:01.168 --> 01:00:03.458
You felt I was ignoring
or disregarding you.

01:00:07.083 --> 01:00:10.208
You didn't want a microchip
inserted in my brain.

01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:13.333
I told you a thousand times
I had nothing to lose.

01:00:15.833 --> 01:00:19.543
But the doctors said
I needed approval from both parents.

01:00:25.293 --> 01:00:28.043
I was scared of starting
to prefer silence...

01:00:28.333 --> 01:00:30.793
having to read lips all the time...

01:00:33.918 --> 01:00:36.625
and, naturally,
talking too much to myself.

01:00:44.833 --> 01:00:48.375
Silence is a quiet place,

01:00:49.168 --> 01:00:51.293
but also a mysterious one.

01:00:53.958 --> 01:00:56.458
7. A Cochlear Implant?

01:00:56.625 --> 01:00:59.543
The metamorphosis

01:01:01.833 --> 01:01:04.793
Was it difficult for them
to have you implanted in Uruguay?

01:01:04.958 --> 01:01:05.875
Do you know?

01:01:06.918 --> 01:01:08.833
Sort of. Maybe.

01:01:09.293 --> 01:01:11.418
I don't know. I'm not sure...

01:01:11.583 --> 01:01:14.750
I know many told them
that it was dangerous

01:01:14.918 --> 01:01:17.543
and advised them
against the surgery.

01:01:18.043 --> 01:01:24.875
They tried to manipulate my mother
so I wouldn't have surgery

01:01:25.043 --> 01:01:27.168
and study sign language instead.

01:01:27.918 --> 01:01:29.833
My mother didn't go along with it.

01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:34.625
A neighbor who works
with deaf people, or used to,

01:01:35.125 --> 01:01:38.708
advised my mother
not to let them sway her

01:01:38.875 --> 01:01:40.793
and make her own decision.

01:01:41.043 --> 01:01:44.043
She thought about it
and I had surgery.

01:01:54.918 --> 01:01:59.458
I think the taboo about surgery
started at your teaching courses.

01:01:59.625 --> 01:02:02.083
No natural hearing would remain.

01:02:02.793 --> 01:02:03.958
But what is natural?

01:02:05.125 --> 01:02:06.918
Is, by chance, change natural?

01:02:24.125 --> 01:02:26.543
Loneliness became an ally.

01:02:27.918 --> 01:02:31.083
Feeling lost was becoming
something natural.

01:02:31.168 --> 01:02:34.375
Only the loud sound
of a siren would wake me up.

01:02:35.750 --> 01:02:38.125
We stopped talking over the phone

01:02:38.293 --> 01:02:40.168
and narrowed it all to SMS.

01:02:46.250 --> 01:02:50.543
I think Dad, Mum and myself,

01:02:50.708 --> 01:02:53.458
all of us are fearful.

01:02:55.083 --> 01:02:58.833
We are not optimistic
carefree people.

01:02:59.125 --> 01:03:01.168
Everything frightens us.

01:03:06.583 --> 01:03:09.125
We need to erode this bone...

01:03:10.543 --> 01:03:14.708
to gain access to the middle ear.

01:03:17.583 --> 01:03:20.168
Why didn't Mum and you want me
have the surgery?

01:03:20.333 --> 01:03:21.583
What were you afraid of?

01:03:21.875 --> 01:03:23.458
Everything.

01:03:24.125 --> 01:03:27.083
First thing that crossed my mind was

01:03:27.250 --> 01:03:29.750
"she having surgery
without being sick".

01:03:32.293 --> 01:03:36.333
And I was terrified for your brain.

01:03:37.293 --> 01:03:41.168
You know? The hole they were
going to drill in your skull.

01:03:41.833 --> 01:03:45.375
They would be around your brain.

01:03:45.918 --> 01:03:50.418
That was the part that...

01:03:50.583 --> 01:03:54.125
...we all know how delicate
that area is.

01:03:54.293 --> 01:03:59.125
That was mainly the whole point.

01:03:59.458 --> 01:04:03.043
The fact that they'd be
working inside your head.

01:04:21.958 --> 01:04:24.500
I know you were terrified
but I couldn't just accept

01:04:24.668 --> 01:04:26.250
the idea of never hearing again.

01:04:41.168 --> 01:04:44.875
This is an authentic
wonder, Argentine prawns.

01:04:46.500 --> 01:04:50.418
They are native and really good.

01:04:55.875 --> 01:04:57.668
When you spoke of an implant

01:04:57.833 --> 01:05:01.083
and surgeons putting something
inside your head,

01:05:02.083 --> 01:05:06.750
I thought that would mean
never getting into the ocean again.

01:05:12.375 --> 01:05:15.418
You'd have to choose
between hearing or the ocean.

01:05:15.583 --> 01:05:17.750
And I found that terrible.

01:05:22.793 --> 01:05:25.043
I must admit I wasn't aware

01:05:25.208 --> 01:05:27.958
how serious
Charo's hearing loss got,

01:05:28.125 --> 01:05:31.000
You sort of get used to it.

01:05:31.333 --> 01:05:34.458
Anyway, before the surgery,

01:05:34.625 --> 01:05:38.458
Charo and I could hardly
have a phone conversation.

01:05:42.708 --> 01:05:45.583
It wasn't just about
our communication

01:05:45.750 --> 01:05:48.083
but also her self-development.

01:05:48.250 --> 01:05:50.500
Hey, Dad, I'm here! Talk to me.

01:05:54.125 --> 01:05:57.293
Mum and Dad were scared to death.

01:05:57.500 --> 01:06:01.250
They didn't want you implanted
and instilled fear in you.

01:06:01.418 --> 01:06:03.168
Fear of the surgery going wrong.

01:06:03.543 --> 01:06:06.875
Honestly, in your place,
under all that pressure, I mean...

01:06:09.250 --> 01:06:11.125
We proceed...

01:06:12.125 --> 01:06:13.918
...very slowly...

01:06:16.125 --> 01:06:18.125
...inserting the electrode.

01:06:24.875 --> 01:06:26.875
Very slowly...

01:06:28.125 --> 01:06:33.293
...as we count: seven, eight,

01:06:34.208 --> 01:06:37.208
nine, ten,

01:06:38.168 --> 01:06:41.000
eleven, twelve,

01:06:41.793 --> 01:06:44.458
thirteen, fourteen,

01:06:45.708 --> 01:06:47.333
fifteen, sixteen...

01:06:47.793 --> 01:06:51.793
If everything goes well,
we suture the muscle

01:06:52.293 --> 01:06:54.583
and then the skin.

01:06:55.958 --> 01:06:59.293
We bandage the area
using a compressive bandage,

01:06:59.458 --> 01:07:01.293
and end the surgery.

01:07:05.458 --> 01:07:10.458
There you have it,
three of each.

01:07:10.625 --> 01:07:12.458
One more.

01:07:15.043 --> 01:07:19.583
These prawns are outstanding.

01:07:20.708 --> 01:07:24.708
What do you think
about acoustic memory?

01:07:24.875 --> 01:07:26.750
I learned that term from you.

01:07:27.250 --> 01:07:29.125
Once I got it, it was like wow!

01:07:29.500 --> 01:07:31.668
I wonder if it happens
to the blind.

01:07:33.500 --> 01:07:36.708
But it was really shocking.

01:07:38.875 --> 01:07:44.458
When you told me...
I put myself in your shoes.

01:07:44.625 --> 01:07:49.125
Like: "I'm the one who is deaf.
and can't hear a thing."

01:07:49.750 --> 01:07:52.208
I realized...

01:07:53.833 --> 01:07:56.043
...you could start forgetting...

01:07:57.250 --> 01:07:59.668
...what sounds sounded like.

01:07:59.833 --> 01:08:02.958
You know? As something
that started to fade away.

01:08:07.293 --> 01:08:11.168
We once talked about that footage...

01:08:12.918 --> 01:08:14.543
...of the sea...

01:08:15.043 --> 01:08:18.293
washing away the drawings
we had made in the sand.

01:08:22.043 --> 01:08:24.668
Up to that point,
it had been a difficulty.

01:08:24.833 --> 01:08:26.625
But forgetting them?

01:08:28.250 --> 01:08:30.918
It was a point of no return.

01:08:31.793 --> 01:08:34.625
It stroke me...really deep,

01:08:34.793 --> 01:08:37.875
because that's what
acoustic memory is all about.

01:08:38.250 --> 01:08:41.875
The vibrations you hear
through your ears

01:08:42.083 --> 01:08:47.083
are vibrations that your brain
matches with counterparts

01:08:47.333 --> 01:08:49.250
in your mind.

01:08:50.625 --> 01:08:53.083
And if it doesn't find anything...

01:08:53.418 --> 01:08:55.043
...there's no way out.

01:09:02.458 --> 01:09:04.958
I thought, "We're in deep shit."

01:09:05.125 --> 01:09:06.375
Not being able to hear
is one thing,

01:09:06.543 --> 01:09:08.250
but forgetting how to do it
is something else.

01:09:11.250 --> 01:09:13.250
I went ahead with the surgery.

01:09:13.500 --> 01:09:16.208
That's when, although I failed
to persuade you,

01:09:16.375 --> 01:09:18.793
you started supporting me.

01:09:19.208 --> 01:09:21.668
When the psychologist
asked about my family,

01:09:21.918 --> 01:09:24.168
I said they wanted
what was best for me.

01:09:24.918 --> 01:09:27.293
I never said you disapproved of it.

01:09:27.583 --> 01:09:30.000
Hi! How are you?

01:09:47.708 --> 01:09:48.750
A cyborg...

01:09:50.543 --> 01:09:53.458
...that's the right
pronunciation, isn't it?

01:09:53.750 --> 01:09:55.250
-Is it?
-Yeah.

01:09:55.918 --> 01:09:58.293
-Shall we say it that way?
-Shift the stress.

01:09:58.458 --> 01:09:59.625
Cyborg.

01:10:00.418 --> 01:10:01.793
Your stomach's groaning.

01:10:01.958 --> 01:10:04.918
-It is groaning.
-That's what I was hearing.

01:10:05.083 --> 01:10:06.458
-Thought it was mine.
-I hear several.

01:10:06.625 --> 01:10:07.375
Mine's also groaning.

01:10:08.043 --> 01:10:10.458
8. Being a Cyborg

01:10:10.918 --> 01:10:13.793
How does a hearing-impaired hear?

01:10:27.543 --> 01:10:29.333
Charo, are you receiving
this message?

01:10:29.500 --> 01:10:31.375
Can we use this to talk?

01:10:37.958 --> 01:10:40.418
I can't imagine losing all hearing.

01:10:40.958 --> 01:10:43.750
But neither can I imagine
going through another post-op

01:10:43.918 --> 01:10:45.000
without your care.

01:10:45.418 --> 01:10:47.833
You disinfecting
the floors twice a day.

01:10:49.750 --> 01:10:54.125
You were there when I blew my nose
and the pain was excruciating.

01:10:55.375 --> 01:10:59.000
We thought I had dislodged
the electrodes of my cochlea.

01:11:03.875 --> 01:11:05.668
But, once again, I healed,

01:11:05.833 --> 01:11:08.375
and together we went
to have me turned on.

01:11:11.918 --> 01:11:14.918
A sudden, persistent,
annoying noise filled my head.

01:11:16.293 --> 01:11:18.250
A sound of rain in the background.

01:11:20.293 --> 01:11:22.750
It kept raining
for two or three months.

01:11:23.668 --> 01:11:25.625
Gradually, it all cleared up.

01:11:53.793 --> 01:11:56.458
Would you rather
not suffer from hearing loss?

01:11:58.125 --> 01:11:59.333
I would.

01:12:00.458 --> 01:12:03.000
-And hear everything?
-I'd like to.

01:12:03.293 --> 01:12:08.500
But I'm also thankful
for having hearing loss.

01:12:08.668 --> 01:12:13.418
If I'd been born with hearing,
I'd have had a different life.

01:12:17.668 --> 01:12:21.793
I'm thankful to my condition, too.

01:12:21.958 --> 01:12:24.833
My condition made me...

01:12:27.333 --> 01:12:30.583
...fall in love with
symbolic language,

01:12:30.750 --> 01:12:35.958
for all things said
without using words.

01:12:36.708 --> 01:12:39.418
But it's taken its toll
on my social life.

01:12:41.625 --> 01:12:45.500
I mean, I'm extremely sociable...

01:12:46.168 --> 01:12:49.125
...I don't hide in a cave
away from the world.

01:12:49.293 --> 01:12:52.875
But I wish I were more of a talker

01:12:53.043 --> 01:12:55.250
and listen to everyone, above all.

01:13:08.083 --> 01:13:10.543
In between calibrations,
I travelled.

01:13:11.208 --> 01:13:15.043
I went to other places
less noisy than Buenos Aires.

01:13:16.625 --> 01:13:18.250
I put my implant on every day.

01:13:18.418 --> 01:13:19.875
I looked after it.

01:13:20.583 --> 01:13:23.958
I heard sounds
I had never heard before.

01:13:55.458 --> 01:13:59.000
Sometimes, you must take risks.

01:13:59.168 --> 01:14:02.375
In spite of everything.

01:14:03.043 --> 01:14:04.168
-Let's roll.
-Sound?

01:14:05.043 --> 01:14:06.083
It's on.

01:14:06.250 --> 01:14:08.125
I'll put this
very close to your face.

01:14:08.293 --> 01:14:09.293
OK.

01:14:10.583 --> 01:14:11.418
One second.

01:14:11.708 --> 01:14:13.250
Would you like to hear differently?

01:14:14.918 --> 01:14:16.000
I wouldn't.

01:14:17.708 --> 01:14:18.750
And I would.

01:14:20.958 --> 01:14:22.543
That's a great question.

01:14:22.708 --> 01:14:25.750
If I did, would I be able
to do all I do?

01:14:27.083 --> 01:14:29.958
What if everything I do
comes from my condition?

01:14:31.250 --> 01:14:37.083
You mean that being hard-of-hearing
has shaped your personality?

01:14:37.668 --> 01:14:38.708
Definitely.

01:14:48.708 --> 01:14:50.000
As months went by,

01:14:50.333 --> 01:14:54.500
I realized that hearing aids
allowed me just to hear partially.

01:15:01.958 --> 01:15:03.875
There were gaps in the words.

01:15:05.043 --> 01:15:08.250
The implant helped me
give a sound to those gaps.

01:15:08.708 --> 01:15:10.625
It fleshes out sounds.

01:15:15.125 --> 01:15:17.083
I hear people talking
to me from behind,

01:15:17.250 --> 01:15:18.208
and the phone.

01:15:18.500 --> 01:15:20.750
I hear myself like never before.

01:15:23.793 --> 01:15:28.918
It's the most amazing
ear-related invention

01:15:29.333 --> 01:15:32.168
of the 20th and 21st century.

01:15:32.918 --> 01:15:34.458
It has a wide range of benefits.

01:15:34.750 --> 01:15:38.333
That's why I can talk to you
one meter away

01:15:38.793 --> 01:15:42.750
in a normal conversation voice,
which is about 60 dB.

01:15:42.918 --> 01:15:45.293
And I can't tell
you're hard of hearing.

01:15:46.918 --> 01:15:48.875
Food's ready!

01:15:51.543 --> 01:15:53.168
What do you think, Carlitos?

01:15:53.458 --> 01:15:54.708
It looks good...

01:15:54.875 --> 01:15:56.000
...great!

01:15:56.375 --> 01:15:59.083
What happens if I turn off
my implant and my hearing aid?

01:16:00.083 --> 01:16:01.418
You disappear.

01:16:02.958 --> 01:16:05.500
You have that gift.

01:16:06.208 --> 01:16:11.875
It enables you to isolate
yourself from the outside world

01:16:12.083 --> 01:16:13.668
inside your inner world.

01:16:17.375 --> 01:16:19.168
It's a double-edged sword.

01:16:24.043 --> 01:16:26.208
Yet I yearn for silence.

01:16:27.333 --> 01:16:29.750
And I can always
turn my hearing off.

01:16:32.500 --> 01:16:35.583
Cities become magical
when they're silent.

01:16:44.208 --> 01:16:47.125
I wonder about
the sounds nobody hears.

01:16:48.458 --> 01:16:51.333
How does a hearing-impaired hear?

01:16:54.043 --> 01:16:57.500
I realize there isn't
one unique answer.

01:17:11.168 --> 01:17:14.750
Steps on the stones,
by the ocean.

01:17:23.375 --> 01:17:28.833
What would you say
to other hard-of-hearing children

01:17:29.458 --> 01:17:31.875
in a similar situation to you,

01:17:32.043 --> 01:17:35.793
who are bullied at school
for not hearing well?

01:17:35.958 --> 01:17:37.958
Ignore the bullies.

01:17:41.293 --> 01:17:46.125
Yes. Don't let people get to you.

01:17:47.418 --> 01:17:50.750
People will criticize you
no matter what.

01:17:50.918 --> 01:17:53.918
Maybe it's because
you're missing a leg,

01:17:54.083 --> 01:17:56.458
or because you're missing an arm.

01:17:56.625 --> 01:18:00.375
If you wear glasses or you're blind,
they'll criticize you anyway.

01:18:00.543 --> 01:18:03.418
If you dye your hair,
they'll mock on you too.

01:18:03.918 --> 01:18:06.918
People can be ignorant.

01:18:07.418 --> 01:18:09.625
So, ignore them.

01:18:20.250 --> 01:18:23.083
I'd tell them to take a chance.

01:18:23.625 --> 01:18:25.708
There's nothing more beautiful

01:18:25.875 --> 01:18:28.708
than listening
to your parents' voices.

01:18:29.168 --> 01:18:31.375
Hearing your sister's voice.

01:18:31.958 --> 01:18:34.543
Hearing all voices is nice.

01:18:54.000 --> 01:18:55.500
I also think...

01:18:55.668 --> 01:19:00.543
...although hearing loss is seen
as something bad or an ailment,

01:19:00.708 --> 01:19:02.833
in my case...

01:19:04.125 --> 01:19:08.958
it has given me
unusual insight into life.

01:19:09.125 --> 01:19:13.125
Maybe if I had had
a normal hearing...

01:19:13.668 --> 01:19:15.333
...all my life,

01:19:16.958 --> 01:19:19.333
I would be a different person,

01:19:19.500 --> 01:19:22.625
and I like having this connection

01:19:23.583 --> 01:19:25.833
with the supreme spirit,
with the mystery.

01:19:26.418 --> 01:19:28.375
If I had been born
with normal hearing

01:19:28.543 --> 01:19:30.208
maybe I would be a criminal lawyer

01:19:30.375 --> 01:19:31.543
or something.

01:19:42.458 --> 01:19:46.458
I recently brought myself to listen
to your last voice messages.

01:19:46.708 --> 01:19:48.543
You sent them 3 years ago.

01:19:48.750 --> 01:19:51.000
But your voice is intact.

01:19:55.083 --> 01:19:58.375
I was listening
to Shakira on the radio.

01:19:58.543 --> 01:20:03.043
I've sent you my own
terrible version via Whatsapp.

01:20:03.208 --> 01:20:06.375
It reminded me of you.
I was thinking about you, Charo,

01:20:07.458 --> 01:20:10.458
and when I turned the radio on
Shakira was singing,

01:20:10.625 --> 01:20:12.500
which brought me back to you

01:20:12.668 --> 01:20:15.293
dancing in front
of a mirror as a kid.

01:20:15.500 --> 01:20:17.625
I miss you so much. Bye!

01:20:19.293 --> 01:20:21.625
I really miss you too, Mom.

01:20:22.418 --> 01:20:25.208
I promise I'll dance
to Shakira more often.

01:20:42.418 --> 01:20:47.293
Each one of us relates
to the world in different ways.

01:20:50.583 --> 01:20:52.208
We understand partially.

01:20:52.625 --> 01:20:55.500
And make up for what the noise
takes from us.

01:20:56.125 --> 01:20:58.875
We visualize gestures,
atmospheres, people.

01:21:01.418 --> 01:21:03.875
We turn all that happens
into sounds,

01:21:04.208 --> 01:21:06.418
which are not the same
for those hearing.

01:21:06.875 --> 01:21:10.793
Except for those brains eager
to understand and communicate.

01:21:20.125 --> 01:21:23.708
So I hope you're somehow
hearing me somewhere.

01:21:25.875 --> 01:21:29.500
Beyond fears and all,
I understand you.

01:21:31.833 --> 01:21:34.543
I love you, Mom.
I love you very much.

01:21:42.208 --> 01:21:45.333
Written and directed by
Charo Mato