Niharika Popli

If I Could Tell You

Two friends, one Deaf and one hearing, and their unique relationship to the Indian Sign Language.

Year:

2022

Length:

69 min

Country:

India

Language:

Indian Sign Langauge,
English

Director:

Niharika Popli

SYNOPSIS

If I Could Tell You is an evocative inquiry into the significance of language in our shared human experience. Following the journeys of two friends, one Deaf and one hearing, and their unique relationship to Indian Sign Language (ISL), the film includes diverse perspectives from Deaf and queer communities and explores how various manifestations of visual language and expression help us understand agency, autonomy and care.

Made in collaboration with artist Pakhi Sen, this documentary pushes the boundaries of storytelling by blending diverse media forms, including animation and artistic performances.  It is also the first instance of an Indian film featuring an original ISL poem by a Deaf poet.

 

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about the director

Niharika Popli is an independent filmmaker from Delhi. Her first feature film, Rasan Piya, won the the Tareq Masud Award for the Best Debut Film at Film Southasia 2017. The film was inspired by the music and zest for life of Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan. If I Could Tell You is her second feature length documentary. It is the story of six young people finding expression and meaning as they navigate their space in a city.

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