August 21: Deaf Tourism in Bali film screening

#deaftravel: Deaf Tourism in Bali will be shown on Saturday, August 21 at 9 a.m. ET. This ethnographic film, by Deaf Studies faculty member Erin Moriarty-Harrelson and Jorn Rijckaert, explores the experiences of deaf tourists who visited Bali as solo travelers, in pairs, or in groups, in the summer of 2018. The tourists originated from the United States, Europe, and India. They joined tours guided by two deaf tour guides, Wahyu and Gio, whose very different backgrounds inform their styles of guiding and the travel itineraries they design. The deaf tourists and guides used a range of sign languages, including International Sign. 

The film shows how the tourists learn and use International Sign, BISINDO (Indonesian Sign Language), and snippets of other sign languages, and how they use gestures with hearing Indonesians. The tour guides, tourists and Balinese deaf people reflect on the ethics of tourists visiting deaf schools and a “deaf village” in north Bali, where Kata Kolok, a hyper-local sign language, is used. The film ends with a reflection on various forms of mobilities within Bali and throughout the world.

There will be a pre-film introduction session in International Sign Language, with English interpretation and subtitles, as well as a post-film question and answer session.

Watch the film trailer.