SPEECH BY: Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton
FILM: "The Silent Child"
RACHEL SHENTON: Oh god, hello. I made a promise to our six-year-old lead actress that I'd sign this speech but my hands are shaking a little bit so I apologize. Thank you. Our movie is about a deaf child being born into a world of silence. It's not exaggerated or sensationalized for the movie. This is happening, millions of children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers. And particularly access to education. So, deafness is a silent disability. You can't see it and it's not life-threatening, so I want to say the biggest of thank you's to the Academy for allowing us to put this in front of a mainstream audience.
CHRIS OVERTON: This was such a team effort so I've got to say thank you to our parents for making and selling cupcakes so we could…
RACHEL SHENTON: Thanks, Mum.
CHRIS OVERTON: for helping us finish the film. Thanks to everyone who backed our Indiegogo campaign. Thank you Vannessa Johnstone, Terry Murphy, all our executive producers, Danny Ormerod, everyone at Slick Showreels, and Slick Films. All our incredible cast and crew, Maisie Sly, Julie Foy, Rebecca Harris, Ali Farahani, we couldn't do it without you. But lastly, my fiancée, Rachel Shenton, it's really your hard work for the last 12 years that has really made this project authentic. Thank you so much, guys.
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