Deaf Way to return in 2025 as a series of biennial celebrations

For over two decades, people have asked when Deaf Way III will take place. Many of them remember fondly the Deaf Way International Conference on Deaf Culture in July 1989 and the Deaf Way II International Conference and Festival in July 2002. These week-long events brought together thousands of people from over 100 countries for plenary addresses, lectures, panels, and presentations, as well as theater productions, dance performances, and film screenings. Years in the planning and enormous in scale and scope, these events took place not just on the Gallaudet campus, but at venues throughout the Washington area, including what is now the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Northwest and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Gallaudet University is bringing back Deaf Way in 2025, with a new approach. The original artistic and cultural gathering concept will continue, but in a series of biennial, "bite-sized" experiences to better meet the needs of more globally-connected deaf lives. The first event, in October 2025, will be a film festival. Future events will include a Science Festival, Visual and Performing Arts Festival, and DeafBlind Festival. Each festival will have different partners and collaborators who are experts in their field.

Next year's Deaf Way Film Festival will be a weekend of films that showcase the work of Deaf and hard of hearing creatives and celebrate Deaf culture, sign language, and Deaf pride. Films will be screened on campus and at nearby venues.

The Deaf Way Film Festival will also include panels and workshops, and provide space for roundtable discussions of deaf people in the film industry, possibly called the Deaf Film Alliance. Potential topics for panels and workshops may focus on breaking into the film industry, how to work with other creative deaf people and/or people with disabilities, and how to obtain funding for films.

The proposed Deaf Film Alliance aims to create a space where deaf filmmakers and deaf professionals in the industry can participate in structured and unstructured discussions about their work.

Film submissions will open soon through the FilmFreeWay portal.

The Deaf Way website will be continually updated; bookmark it now and visit often!