Justin Edgar Directs WW2-Set ‘The Letter,’ Featuring All-Deaf Cast, Crew (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justin Edgar, a well-established British filmmaker and advocate for disabled people, has pushed the boundaries for accessibility films with “The Letter,” a drama shedding light on a lesser known deaf community in Germany during the WW2.
Now in post, “The Letter” was directed by Edgar, who is hard of hearing, with an entire cast and crew of deaf artists. Written by deaf writer Julian Peedle-Calloo, “The Letter” follows the struggle of deaf people who fought back against Nazis’ oppression during the war.
It tells the story of a deaf regiment of stormtroopers and charts the rise of the Nazi-ruled social org for deaf people (Reich Union of the Deaf of Germany).
The 30-minute film is based on true events and boasts fictionalized characters. “Deaf people like the ones in ‘The Letter’ were really at the forefront of the Nazi euthanasia machine,” he said, adding that “Nazis were so ruthlessly efficient at exterminating deaf and disabled people that a lot of stories were lost.” Polly Jerrold, a casting director who specializes in diverse casting and in particular deaf, disabled and neuro-divergent actors, played a key role in assembling the cast and was able to tap into “great deaf filmmaking community” in Britain, said Edgar, who advises Channel 4 on their disability policy, as well as the BBC .
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