Fable Deaf
With a uniquely Deaf aesthetic, Fable Deaf is a magical realist film featuring lush visual effects and an all-Deaf cast. Fable Deaf unfolds in a world of visual rather than spoken language, where the past is preserved in a glass library, and emotions can bring storms and monsoons.
Elderly Deaf archivist Hugo finds his rigid system of artifacts and tradition jeopardized by the sudden and unwelcome arrival of Jaul, a young Deaf traveler with an ancient map. Devi attempts to intervene in the escalating animosity, but her efforts only fuel the uncoiling of a calamity that threatens to end the world and plunge the Deaf child, Jasper, into a desolate and isolated future.
Fable Deaf stars four Saskatchewan actors between the ages of 12 and 74, all of whom identify as culturally Deaf and communicate using American Sign Language, and who have contributed to the film’s narrative.
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Chrystene R. EllsDirectorCrow's Nest, Sisu, Véronique à vélo, Der Glöckner, Hungry Bones
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Joanne C. WeberWriter1000 Ladders Down, Apple Time, Deaf Settlers, Deaf Crows
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Michelle M. GrodeckiWriterApple Time
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Berny HiWriterDer Glöckner, Hungry Bones, George Bassler’s Perpetual Motion Machine, Véronique à vélo
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Deaf Crows CollectiveProducer
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Mustafa AlabssiKey Cast"Jaul"Black Summer
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Oscar N. GrodeckiKey Cast"Jasper"Canadian Football League O Canada ASL Version
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Fatima T. NafisaKey Cast"Devi"Never Saw ASL Poem
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Allard A. ThomasKey Cast"Hugo"Election Saskatchewan Disability Access Training Video
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Berny HiCinematographerDer Glöckner, Hungry Bones, George Bassler’s Perpetual Motion Machine, Véronique à vélo
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Candace CardosoCostume Design
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Geoffrey Lee ParkProduction Design
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Jason RisterColouristLand of Rock and Gold, Talent, Nordic Lodge, Bridging Borders, I Lived With a Killer
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Jack HilkewichPost-Production Effects
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Jason MaherPost-Production Effects
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Roman Empire StudiosSound Mix
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Project Type:Experimental, Short
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Genres:Short, deaf, experimental
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Runtime:13 minutes 50 seconds
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Completion Date:May 19, 2023
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Production Budget:61,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:American Sign Language
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Yorkton Film FestivalYorkton
Canada
May 27, 2023
North American Premiere
Ruth Shaw Award (Best in Saskatchewan) -
Deaf Film FestivalAustin, Texas
United States
October 7, 2023
Best Short -
SignLight International Film FestivalLos Angeles, California
United States
April 16, 2024
Official Selection -
Saskatchewan Independent Film AwardsRegina, SK
Canada
November 25, 2023
Nominee: Best Short, Best Technical
Chrystene Ells is a director, visual artist, and animator. She grew up on an Alberta cattle ranch before moving to San Francisco in 1986, where she made practical special effects for film and animation, working on The Nightmare Before Christmas and for George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, among others. Over two decades she built models, creatures and puppets, storyboarded, created concept art, and directed a number of theatrical productions and films.
Relocating in 2006 to Saskatchewan, Ells earned an Interdisciplinary MFA (Film, Visual Art, Theatre, University of Regina), receiving the Governor General’s Gold Medal (Academic) for her thesis feature film, Sisu - the Death of Tom Sukanen. She later received a Lieutenant Governor’s Arts Award. Her collaboration with Berny Hi, Der Glöckner (16mm, b&w), won Best Film and Audience Choice awards at Saskatchewan Independent Film Awards, and Best Director at QC Shorts. Perhaps best of all, at his Rogue Film School, Werner Herzog told Chrystene that her hand-processed 8mm film about a goose contemplating mortality was strange, and that he liked it very much.
Ells is currently directing and animating her animated short, Crows Nest, with the National Film Board of Canada.