Manuel Acuña’s documentary The Silence of My Hands uses sign language and immersive sound design to tell the story of a romance facing various complications.
Director: Manuel Acuña
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 80′
BFI Flare Screening: March 24-28, 2025
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
The Silence of My Hands (El Silencio de Mis Manos) is not a completely silent film. Manuel Acuña’s debut documentary features dialogue spoken by people around our two main subjects, Rosa María Casillas Madrigal and Saira Yunuen Medina Soria, and sounds ranging from a busy market to waves lapping quietly on the shore. In other words, we hear a lot of things.
However, what’s significant is that Rosa and Saira are two deaf Mexicans who communicate with each other and the outside world using Mexican Sign Language (LSM). This is a film that is “spoken entirely in sign language,” according to the press notes, with Acuña using the lyricism of LSM and immersive sound design to tell the story of a romance facing various complications.
The Silence of My Hands is mostly a film about finding and trying to keep connections. There are numerous scenes showing Rosa and Saira (also referred to as Sai) in love. However, as they face turbulent changes in their lives, the pair will have to deal with how that affects their relationship. They will also have to navigate borders, both between the hearing and hard-of-hearing worlds and between different countries. Whilst Rosa is studying to become a lawyer in Guadalajara (the first deaf lawyer in her state of Jalisco), Sai is moving back to the US to rejoin some family members in California. There’s another big change in Sai’s life too: they are in the process of gender transition, including getting top surgery.
The pair are trying to make this long-distance relationship work, but it is hard when the two have such a deep bond. When they’re apart, there are language and disability barriers they need to overcome alone. Rosa needs an interpreter for her class whereas Sai’s top surgery consultation is with a doctor speaking English, meaning they need a translator who speaks both Spanish and LSM (it ends up being their niece).
That appointment is the first step in Sai’s gender journey and the newfound confidence they have gained as a trans person is noted by Rosa (“I feel that when you go out in the street, you like to show yourself as you are.”) Simultaneously, though, there is a feeling Sai will have to fight for equality and acceptance, just like how Rosa had to fight and struggle immensely to get equal opportunities to study. “We know this is how our life will always be,” Rosa signs at one point in a speech, which seems to be a prescient line for her and her partner.
One of the things that makes Acuña’s film stand out is how the director manages to attune his documentary to two of the five senses. The first is touch, such as when we see a hand lightly touching glass at an aquarium full of luminescent fish or a close-up of hands clasped together. Rosa and Sai return to the aquarium several times, and it provides a sense of tranquillity and happiness for them. It is the best demonstration of their affection but also their separation, as the glass barriers to the tank match the barriers they will face once they part again.
Then there is the sound design, which immediately ensnares you with ringing, vibrations and muffled sounds. Not since Sound of Metal has there been a film with deaf characters that has used sound design so intricately and comprehensively to bring us into their headspaces. At one point, when Sai playfully spits water at Rosa, the sound fades and becomes muffled. This is from the aural perspective of Rosa’s hearing aid, as when she dries it, the sound returns. We also hear the feedback from their hearing aids as Rosa and Sai get closer to each other. It’s these intricate little bits that make the film, and full credit must go to the sound team. That includes Rubí J. Pérez, mixer Mario Martínez Cobos and recorder María José Magallones among others.
The Silence of My Hands has been seven years in the making, and there are large time jumps over the course of the film that are never rectified or explained. Granted, the film is elliptical by design as Acuña blends Rosa and Sai’s memories and perspectives in a swirl of past and present. But perhaps some context was needed in places.
Nonetheless, Acuña has done something remarkable with his debut. Using no spoken dialogue from Rosa and Sai, alongside incredible sound design, he has managed to tell a complete and worthwhile story of their relationship. A love story amidst individual pursuits and other factors that threaten to stop their connection. It’s a non-dramatic film, which could frustrate some viewers. But it is also simple, observatory and lightly melancholic.
The Silence of My Hands: Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
Rosa and Saira are two deaf Mexicans in a relationship. As one works her way through law school in Guadalajara and the other moves back to the US, the pair try to make the long distances work whilst facing other complications.
Pros:
- It’s a remarkable film – simple, observatory, and able to tell a full story of this relationship.
- The sound design is incredible, full of intricate and satisfying little details that take us into the worlds of Rosa and Sai.
- The film is also attuned to a sense of touch, with close-ups of hands clasped together.
Cons:
- The large time jumps may allow the film to not be over-descriptive, but some more context would have helped.
The Silence of My Hands was screened at BFI Flare on March 24, 2025 and will be screened again on March 28. Read our BFI Flare reviews!
