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Dawn Skwersky

Dawn Skwersky grew up in Philadelphia.  Her parents didn't notice she was deaf until she was 4 years old.  They didn't realize up to that point, she got by on reading their lips not hearing their voices.  She graduated from Boston University's graduate program in Film Production.  She wants to make films that educate as well as entertain audiences about deaf people and their culture by using deaf actors in "regular" roles not just "deaf" character roles.  Her day job is at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital where she works as a web designer, merging film and the web to create multimedia for the Internet and for CD-ROMs.  She lives in Boston with her two dogs.

Artist's Statement

"Growing up, I always went to the movies. Every week, my parents would bring us to the latest feature film or the latest subtitled foreign film playing on the big screen. Of course, I didn't always know what was being said in the American films. I loathed always having to ask my friends and parents what was going on or what was being said in the films.

"When I was in college, my classmates would always ask me to teach them about Deaf Culture and American Sign Language. This prompted me to start a club on campus that offered ASL classes as well as Deaf Culture events. My goal was to promote awareness about Deaf Culture.

"When I graduated, I took an Art Management course thinking that this will help me figure ways to continue promoting awareness about Deaf Culture and ASL. Through that, I landed an internship at a film festival and POOF! The answer was there. The best way for me to reach the most people was through FILM and VIDEO. I applied to Boston University for my MS in Film Production and the rest is history.

"All my films have deaf themes, but they also have universal themes as well. Look At Me So I Can Hear You shows the confusion of being a stranger in your own land. Someone She Loved deals with domestic violence. He Says, She Signs deals with over-protectiveness in relationships.

"And to cap it off, I can make films in which I know what is being said and people who don't know sign language need to read the subtitles!"

The artist's webpage is at:  http://members.aol.com/wordofhand