Why Marlee Matlin Insisted on a Deaf Director for Her Sundance Doc

Four years ago, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin experienced the magic of a Sundance premiere virtually when the heartfelt indie “CODA” made its debut at the fest (it then sold for $25 million to Apple on the way to winning the Oscar for best picture). But this year, Matlin gets to enjoy Sundance in-person with the debut of the documentary about her life and career, “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” which premiered before a packed house at the Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah on Thursday.

“You just gave me chills,” Matlin tells Variety a couple days before the festival, thinking ahead to how she’ll feel as a roomful of strangers watch her story play out on the big screen. “Being in Eccles and opening the festival is pretty cool, I have to say.”

We’ve convened over Zoom with the documentary’s director Shoshannah Stern and their interpreters (Jack Jason, Matlin’s longtime interpreter, and Karri Aiken, who works with Stern) to discuss what separated this experience from writing her revealing 2010 memoir “I’ll Scream Later.”

In the book, Matlin divulged intimate details about her sudden and permanent hearing loss at eighteen months old; navigating the high and lows of Hollywood after becoming the first deaf actor to win an Academy Award for her breakout role in “Children of a Lesser God”; and her abusive relationship with her co-star in that film, the late William Hurt, among other challenges. Though the headlines that come out of the documentary might be “old news” to some, the way they’re presented is revelatory — thanks, in large part, to the way Stern frames them.

“One is words in print, and one is sign language — it’s visual,” Matlin explains. “Having something in print, you don’t get a sense of tone, whereas me expressing myself visually is a whole different animal.”
Stern chimes in: “I told Marlee that a book is like a monologue — you’re just sharing one way. A documentary provides the dialogue — the back and forth.”

And “Not Alone Anymore” captures things in a truly unique way: the film is anchored by Stern’s interview with Matlin. The pair appear together on screen, seated opposite one another on a couch, using ASL to sign their conversation with no voiceover — only brightly-colored captions.

“I didn’t know that that was going to be the setup [until] I walked into the interview. I thought, ‘Okay, fine, we’re going to sit on the couch together,’” Matlin says. “I didn’t know what Shoshana had in mind until I saw the movie and I went, ‘Oh!’ I just let it all flow. I just let go.”

The one thing Stern says she warned her ahead of time: “Wear your cute socks.”

Shoshannah, this is your feature directorial debut. You came up with this unique setup, which led to a different conversation than a hearing person director would have been able to execute. How did you decide on this framework?

SHOSHANNAH STERN: Marlee knew what she wanted. Marlee has really extraordinary instincts. When you are the first person trying to navigate something and trying to cut down a path in the woods, she really had to be in touch with her instincts. But just like her intuition to want me to direct the documentary, I knew I had to get in touch with my intuition as well.

I realized early on that all other forms of documentary that I had in my mind were sound-based. Usually, directors sit behind the camera and talk to the subject, and then they make all these different cuts. Then there’s voiceover, especially if a deaf person is being interviewed. I started to think, “What does a visual-based documentary look like?” I realized that this could be really cool because it aligns with the title of the film, “Not Alone Anymore.” I’m sharing space with Marlee in the interviews. We are having a dialogue. We are having a conversation, rather than it looking like your typical interview. Empowering Marlee to say what she wanted to say and then letting that conversation really lead and guide our story.

Marlee, what was that instinct to have Shoshannah direct? And what was it like to be able to have that conversation instead of the usual — which I’m now realizing is a very limiting phrase — “talking head” interview?

MARLEE MATLIN: When I was first approached by PBS and American Masters and they wanted to do a biography of my life, I was open to the idea. I was honored. I thought, “Sure, and that it needs to be directed by a deaf director.” They were like, “We’re open to this. Tell us more.” For me, it was all about the deaf lens, if you want to put it that way; it’s more authentic. I said, “I know somebody — Shoshannah Stern.” And they’re like, “Okay. Has she directed before?” I said, “No, but you have to start somewhere.”

I knew that it was going to be a perfect fit because we’ve known each other for so many years, and we’ve always had good conversations. She’s a very good listener and she has a great intuition. She would be able to tell a story in such a matter that was authentic and raw and real. No BS. Knowing that we both grew up in similar circumstances in many ways — my identity as a deaf woman, as deaf actors, as mothers, as women married to hearing men. We got each other and even have similar senses of humor.

How did it feel? Was there a moment in the hours of conversation where Shoshannah asked you something you’ve never been asked before?

MATLIN: I’m always an open book. I’ve always wanted to share my story with people. Sometimes I do hold back, because it’s a matter of trust — I have trust issues — but I typically just say what’s on my mind. Shoshannah is really good at drawing those things out of me. She allowed me to lay out my cards on the table, whatever they were.

Shoshannah, I noticed the lovely lavender color of Marlee’s captions and the various colors that you decided to use for the other interviewees. What was your thought process?

STERN: For me, captions have always had a huge weight. That’s how I access the world. That’s how I get information. When I sleep, even now as an adult, if I see two hearing people talking in my dreams, I see captions. But, like most things in our world, captions are designed by people who live outside of our lived experience. Why is there always one color for captions? And it’s always hard for me to tell who’s talking, especially if there’s more than two or three people that are communicating at the same time. I’m like, “Wait, who?” And they’re always in the same place, and sometimes they cover important information on the TV screen.

Within a film, you always have opportunity to push your narrative in a little bit more creative way. The more creative accessibility is, the better it could be. But captions have been pretty standard. They’ve changed a little bit over time, but, for the most part, they’ve been the same. When I see captions in my memory, I see these old captions.

With “Children of a Lesser God,” it’s really interesting. Marlee’s character never has their own captions, never has their own subtitles at all. Marlee has no words in that film; only what James voices for her has captions, but Sarah never does because she’s using sign language. So she’s silent. We were able to go ahead and caption Sarah in our film for the first time, which was just [wipes away a tear]. I’m sorry.

MATLIN: See, that is an authentic storyteller.

STERN: It’s just emotional for me, because I’ve never seen it before.

MATLIN: It’s about time someone did that. It’s [Shoshsannah’s] movie. She’s doing it her way and it’s our lived experience. That’s what it’s all about. I’m so proud to be associated with her and to be in her first movie.

STERN: But I had to! I couldn’t let that experience go to waste. Because if I tried to imitate the way the other documentaries were made, I couldn’t do that. I could only be me, and I wanted to make things better — for Marlee and for me, and, of course, for all other deaf people that watch the films. To know that change is possible.

MATLIN: This movie has so many different levels happening all at the same time, so many messages, so many different messages, so many issues that we touch upon that deaf people have experienced forever. My story is just one means of telling those experiences that deaf people have experienced – the oppression and so forth and so absolutely, and it’s because of Shoshannah that we’re able to tell this story.

STERN: I always have said that Marlee’s story is at the same time extraordinary and ordinary; I wanted to show both together.

The film does highlight how extraordinary the circumstances were that you’ve survived, Marlee. So many of the people interviewed — like Lauren Ridloff (Marvel’s “Eternals,” a Tony Award nominee for “Children of a Lesser God” on Broadway) have seen you and been inspired. What was it like to hear their testimonies about what you and these fights that you’ve made over the years have meant to them?

MATLIN: It’s very humbling, but this is what I wanted. This was my intention. I wanted people to see that this is what I was able to do, this is what I experienced, and this is what I identified with as a deaf person. But I also knew that I wasn’t alone. And to be able to have this opportunity to talk about what I did as an actress, as a mother, as all the different levels of myself, I’m glad to inspire them. It’s just spreading the faith. That’s why I’m not alone anymore.

One more thing about the captions — which Marlee, you advocated for closed captioning on TV in the 1980s and again at Sundance when you were a juror in 2013 — why did you choose lavender for Marlee’s captions?

STERN: Because of her Oscars dress. [Matlin wore a lavender gown to the 1987 ceremony where she won best actress.]

MATLIN: I didn’t know that!

STERN: And she wore a lilac shirt in one of the first interviews that we conducted, and in the dinner scene, she’s wearing a similar color. I’m one of those woo-woo people, where sometimes I see something and then I can just tell that’s your color — your aura, your spirit animal, your totem? I got a strong sense from different people in the film what their colors were going to be based on their energy.

That was really fun and I worked closely with this amazing deaf artist Alison O’Daniel [on that]. She had a film premiere at Sundance two years ago (“The Tuba Thieves”) and I just loved that synchrony. Marlee pushing for captions and then, in the film about Marlee’s life, captions are being pushed and elevated by another deaf woman. When I saw the captions when they were done, I was very thrilled. [It was] very emotional for me.

What else do you want people to know about the film?

MATLIN: I anticipate that there’s going to be some surprises, like at the end, where I signed to a Billy Joel song. I signed to Billy Joel at his home in New York City in the 80s, when he was married to Christie Brinkley. I signed, I think, three songs to him, and he watched them and [she] filmed them on her home video camera. So, if anybody has access to Christie Brinkley, maybe reach out to her and see if she might have kept that video footage. If she still has it, that would be awesome! [Shoshannah] surprised me at the initial screening, and asked if it was okay to keep it in the end credits. I said, “Yeah, it’s OK.”

Is “My Life” a special song for you?

MATLIN: It is. It’s my father’s favorite song.