May 14, 2022, Short 15

Audible was one of the nominated films this year at the Academy Awards in the category of Best Documentary Short. Although it did not win, the doc was extremely well done and brought attention to a world that I know I knew little about.

The film followed football player Amaree McKenstry-Hall, who played his high school football at the Maryland School for the Deaf. What a fascinating position this film placed the audience in. There were nearly no speaking within the film, and the film used sign language to show how the students and staff at the school would communicate. The captions on the film provided the information to the audience, but it still felt isolating, which I think was the purpose.

The story included the tale of one of Amaree’s best friends who had committed suicide after moving away to attend a hearing school.

The challenges faced as Amaree and his classmates reached their senior season, dealing with the loss of a friend and the first defeat at a football game that the high school had suffered were all very difficult and the movie showed how strong of a person Amaree was.

Some of the football scenes were disjointed and did not tell the story of the games (especially the Homecoming one, which was the final game of Amaree’s career) very effectively.

Still, much of the story is inspirational and shows how you can overcome just about anything life throws at you if you approach it with the proper mental toughness.

This documentary short can be viewed on Netflix.