Deaf documentary filmmaker Alvin Witcher, owner of Cambridge, Ont.-based production company PAH Media, last month won the best feature documentary award for his film Gary Malkowski: A Deaf Legacy in Ontario at the Clin d’Oeil Festival in Reims, France.
The festival is the largest in the world dedicated to sign language arts, celebrating Deaf culture and creativity.
Witcher’s 81-minute documentary traces the groundbreaking journey of Gary Malkowski, the first Deaf Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario, using archival footage, personal stories and interviews to explore the barriers Malkowski faced in the 1990s and the determination that drove him to fight for Deaf rights, accessibility and equal representation.
The film will have its Canadian premiere in Toronto on Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. ET at the Innis Town Hall theatre at the University of Toronto, followed by a Q&A with Malkowski.
It has also been officially selected for the SignLight International Film Festival in Los Angeles, taking place Oct. 7 to 9.
Jeffrey Beatty, chairperson of the Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee (DWCC), said in a July 24 press release announcing Witcher’s award win: “Alvin’s success demonstrates the creative excellence, cultural leadership, and international potential of Deaf-led Canadian productions.”
Through its participation in the CRTC’s “The Path Forward” proceedings in 2025 to modernize the Broadcasting Act, the DWCC has advocated for not only a more accessible and inclusive Canadian broadcasting system for Deaf Canadians but also greater recognition for Deaf-led productions and sustained support for American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) content.
“Alvin’s success is particularly significant to us,” Beatty said in a statement to Cartt this week. “It provides a real-world example of the question DWCC has been raising through the CRTC process.”
“The award is important in its own right, but it also demonstrates that the talent, stories, and international audience exist,” Beatty continued. “The policy question is whether Canada’s broadcasting framework will create sustainable opportunities for that talent here at home.”
Photo of (l-r) award presenters Ashley Kendall and Camilla Arnold of LumoTV, Canadian filmmaker Alvin Witcher and former Ontario MPP Gary Malkowski at the Clin d’Oeil Festival on July 4, courtesy of DWCC
