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Name Me Lawand

Name Me Lawand

Name Me Lawand

Dir. Edward Lovelace
86 min

Lawand is a young Kurdish boy who is also deaf, with virtually no opportunity for an education in Iraq and destined to live a life of isolation. In a desperate attempt to find a better life in a world where he can communicate, his family decides to relocate to the UK and endure a year in a refugee camp so Lawand can attend the Royal School for the Deaf, where he eventually thrives. But just as Lawland is joyfully finding his place in the world and the whole family is settling in, they are threatened with deportation, risking everything Lawand and his teachers have accomplished.

Filmmaker Edward Lovelace met Lawand when his family first arrived in England, and he, too, learned British Sign Language to communicate with the boy more clearly. Using a fluid camera and sound design, as well as a lush score, Lovelace tries to capture Lawand’s vision, how his interior world engages with the exterior, his hopes and his dreams in this transcendent documentary.

Film Details

Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 86 min
Country/Region: United Kingdom
Language: Kurdish, English, British Sign Language
Print Source: MetFilm Sales
Tags: Coming-of-Age, Disability, Documentary, Family, Immigration / Refugee

Cast/Crew

Director: Edward Lovelace
Executive Producer: Thomas Benski, Tim O'Shea, Diene Petterle, Lisa Marie Russo, Kwesi Dickson, Isabel Freer
Producer: Fleur Nieddu, Sam Arnold, Beyan Taher, Neil Andrews, Marisa Clifford, Edward Lovelace
Cinematographer: Ben Fordesman
Screenwriter: Edward Lovelace
Editor: David Charap, Shahnaz Dulaimy, Michael Nollet, David Whitakker
Composer: Tom Hodge