This film focuses on the only hearing member of a deaf family – and it has a noteworthy legacy
CODA first hit the headlines back in January when it won four major prizes at the Sundance Film Festival and was snapped up by Apple TV+ for a reported festival record of $25m (£18m).
Now the movie has been released on the streaming service and is likely to be one of their contenders come awards season, but it is the legacy it is leaving in terms of accessibility that is really noteworthy.
CODA stands for Child of Deaf Adults and the film centres on Ruby – the only hearing member of a deaf family – whose loyalties are torn when she discovers a passion for singing that could lead her away from the family home and business.
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The drama features deaf actors in many of the main roles, and much of its dialogue is shown through American Sign Language (ASL).
Writer and director Sian Heder told Sky News that in researching the project she quickly realised she was planning to do something that is rarely seen on screen.
“I wish I could say it was an easier ride,” Heder said.
“When I started writing the script, I went out and I was like, okay, I got to go find the deaf movies, and you’re looking for them and you’re going back to Children Of A Lesser God 30 years ago – which is Marlee Matlin’s Oscar-winning performance – but since then it’s just so few and far between, I could count them on one hand, the stories that portray deaf characters, especially in leading roles.
“[I was] looking for these portrayals and trying to find a pure ASL scene on screen where you’re watching characters relate in ASL and so it was interesting to sort of be heading into a bit of unknown territory where it was like: ‘Oh, there’s no roadmap for this, we’re going to discover this on our own.'”
Heder said that visiting the set of US show This Close – which was created by and stars deaf actors – helped her to understand what was needed to capture the story she’d written on film, and that she’s now hoping to set an example for other film-makers.
Marlee Matlin (right) appears in CODA. Pic: Apple
“Figuring out how many interpreters do we need to have on set and where do they need to be, and, you know, we have a vocal track – someone at the monitor who’s just speaking the lines into a track so the editor can cut those scenes.”
“Now I want to sort of share that information because I think people are daunted when they think about it – it’s like ‘how did you work with deaf actors?’ And I’m like, ‘actually it was really easy once we put the things in place to facilitate communication on set and make an accessible set.’
“But there isn’t really a way that it’s normally been done because it hasn’t been done very often.”
And it’s not just the on-screen action which is likely to have an impact on future film-making.
Apple have announced that CODA will be the first film ever to have burned-in subtitles, meaning that it will be accessible to anyone that wants to watch it.
Sian Heder says stories like CODA are rarely seen on screen. Pic: Appla
Matlin plays the main character’s mother in CODA, and says she was captivated by the project as soon as she read the script.
“I didn’t want anyone else to take it away, I wanted this role, the opportunity, and I thought this was a story that was a long time in coming that we really needed to share,” Matlin told Sky News.
“It had to do with deaf culture and sign language and on so many levels it was a universal story as well, it was the perfect vehicle for me as an actor to be involved.”
Matlin hopes that just as she did decades ago with Children of a Lesser God, this film will encourage audiences to realise stories about the deaf community can be relevant to anyone.
“I hope that people will be able to see – the same way they saw Children Of A Lesser God – they’ll be taken aback by seeing a deaf character, now we’re talking about several deaf characters carrying the film, that people will see now finally realising, oh, OK, there are thousands of stories, universal stories that are within the deaf community that need to be told and to be shared.
“The beauty of our culture, the beauty of our language, the beauty of our stories, as I said, just to remind people that we’re people just like everybody else, and we have wonderful stories to tell.”
Her husband in the film is played by deaf stage actor Troy Kotsur.
He is also the real-life father of a CODA who he admits “saw the parallels” between what happens in the film and their own family experiences.
Troy Kotsur (right) plays Matlin’s husband in CODA. Pic: Apple
Kotsur told Sky News that it’s difficult for hearing people to understand what it’s like being a CODA – his on-screen daughter Ruby is teased at school by teenagers who have no idea what her life is like.
“She had a hard time trying to articulate what it’s like growing up in a deaf family, nobody understands that,” he explained.
“And it’s different than a typical experience where you have a different spoken language – here with deaf culture and sign language she had to sign at home because that’s the language that we used as a family and then leaving home, she had to adapt and didn’t sign very much.
“The movie depicts her journey navigating between two separate worlds, and this is an opportunity to really share that with the viewers about what it’s like being a CODA.”
For Emilia Jones, who plays Ruby, landing the role meant learning ASL, learning to fish and having singing lessons for the first time.
But despite it sounding like a daunting list of tasks, the actress explained to Sky News that she relished the opportunity, and particularly enjoyed learning ASL which she did for nine months before getting to set, then more intensively with ASL Masters Alexandria Wailes and Anne Tomasetti.
Emilia Jones’ character discovers a passion for singing. Pic: Apple
Jones said: “I wanted to be pushed and I wanted to be challenged so they pushed me very hard.
“I guess it’s like when you’re learning French, you go and live in France and you learn so much more, so the minute I landed, I started intense training and then I met Troy, Daniel [Durant who plays her brother Leo] and Marlee and we kind of started rehearsals and we worked closely together, I just learnt so much faster.”
For Heder, seeing her the words she wrote come alive on screen via ASL was a process she describes as “incredible” – starting when she and ASL Master Alexandria Wailes went through the script line by line, long before they got on set.
Heder explained: “She would read the line of dialogue and she would talk to me about my intention with the line and the emotional state of the character and then she would give me her sign choices and say, ‘what do you think about this?’
“I remember there was a line where the sign for dead was kind of a passive sign [so I asked] ‘is there something more active – she’s really angry in this moment – that could kind of be sharper?’ And so the sign for ‘killing me’ was like a much more dynamic sign in that moment.
“And it was just the coolest process to go through line by line and discover together this completely visual language.”
CODA is in cinemas and available to stream on Apple TV_.
Entertainment
Denis Villeneuve: Director of next James Bond film announced – and says he’s a ‘diehard 007 fan’
The director of the next James Bond film has been announced.
Denis Villeneuve – a four-time Academy Award nominee who earned critical acclaim for the Dune Franchise and Blade Runner 2049 – said the role is a “massive responsibility”.
The Canadian filmmaker described himself as a “diehard” fan since childhood, adding that it is a “huge honour” to come on board.
“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr No with Sean Connery,” Villeneuve said.
Sean Connery as James Bond. Pic: The Legacy Collection/THA/Shutterstock 1963
Reassuring fans, the director continued: “To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honour the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come.”
His appointment comes as the British spy franchise experiences a major overhaul, with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson handing over creative control to Amazon MGM Studios.
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Spectre. Pic: Columbia/Eon/Shutterstock
The Broccoli family have long been the force behind the Bond films, and now co-own the intellectual property.
Two recently appointed producers – Spider-Man’s Amy Pascal and Harry Potter’s David Heyman – said securing a director and developing a screenplay were top priorities before deciding who would succeed Daniel Craig in the role.
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Denis Villeneuve. Pic: Reuters
The head of Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins, described Villeneuve as a “cinematic master whose filmography speaks for itself”.
He added: “Denis has delivered compelling worlds, dynamic visuals, complex characters, and – most importantly – the immersive storytelling that global audiences yearn to experience in theatres.
“James Bond is in the hands of one of today’s greatest filmmakers and we cannot wait to get started on 007’s next adventure.”
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‘We watched Gavin And Stacey on repeat’: Richard E Grant goes on ’emotional’ tour in memory of his late wife
Prosecutors and defence lawyers have rested their cases in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, bringing more than six weeks of testimony against the hip-hop mogul to a close.
The high-profile trial has heard from more than 30 witnesses, including the rapper’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, as well as former employees of his company Bad Boy Entertainment, male escorts, law enforcement officers and hotel staff.
But one person jurors won’t hear from is Combs himself.
Confirming this to Judge Arun Subramanian, the rapper said he had discussed the issue of testifying “thoroughly” with his team and made the decision not to give evidence. He also thanked the judge and told him he was doing an “excellent job”.
Cassie Ventura was heavily pregnant when she testified at the start of the trial. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
After the prosecution rested, the defence team moved for the judge to acquit the 55-year-old – a fairly standard move – saying attorneys for the government had not provided evidence to prove any of the charges filed.
They then presented a brief case themselves, submitting more text messages as evidence to show Combs and his girlfriends were in loving, consensual relationships, and making a few stipulations about testimony, but calling no witnesses. This lasted for less than an hour.
They have previously conceded Combs has been violent in the past, something he is “not proud” of, but said this did not make him a sex trafficker.
Combs has remained in jail without bail since he was arrested in New York in September last year.
Throughout the trial, defence lawyers have made their case for exoneration through their questioning of witnesses called by the prosecution, including several who gave evidence reluctantly or after they were granted immunity to testify.
Prosecutors argue Combs coerced and forced Cassie and another former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym Jane, into “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts, and used his business empire to facilitate these, as well as drug use, and cover up bad behaviour.
Jurors have seen several clips of explicit footage. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
During the first week of the trial, Cassie, 38, spent four days giving evidence. Heavily pregnant at the time, she told jurors she felt pressured to take part in hundreds of “freak offs” with male sex workers as Combs watched.
She told the court they became so frequent during their relationship, which began in 2007 and ended in 2018, that they were “like a job”, and she had barely any time for her own career.
The singer and musician gave birth two weeks after her testimony, her friend and former stylist confirmed as he gave evidence himself in court.
Jane testified for six days about similar sexual performances, which Combs referred to as “hotel nights”, “wild king nights” or “debauchery” with her, the court heard. Like Cassie, she said she felt coerced into engaging in them because she loved the music star and wanted to please him.
Jane dated Combs on and off from early 2021 to his arrest in 2024.
Jurors have been shown several recordings of these sex sessions, lasting more than 40 minutes in total. The footage was shown on monitors and jurors used headphones, keeping it private from the media and members of the public in court.
In her opening statement, defence lawyer Teny Geragos called the videos “powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion”.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony
The trial also heard from Mia, another alleged victim who testified under a pseudonym. Mia was a former employee of Combs, who told the court he sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the years she worked for him.
She had never told anyone about the alleged abuse until the investigation into Combs, she said, telling the court she was ashamed. “I was going to die with this,” she said, becoming tearful on the stand. “I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”
The trial has been eventful, with one juror dismissed and replaced by an alternate after it emerged he had given conflicting evidence about where he lives. The judge said he had “serious concerns” that not being truthful about this could potentially mean he wanted to be on the jury for a particular reason.
And at one point, Combs was warned by the judge for nodding enthusiastically toward jurors during a section of cross-examination by his lawyers. The judge said he could be excluded from the trial if it happened again.
Court is not in session on Wednesday. The trial continues on Thursday, when closing statements from the legal teams will begin.
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