Hear and Now (2007) (DVD)

Hear and Now is a deeply personal memoir by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky about her deaf parents' decision to undergo risky cochlear implant surgery -- the only one of its kind that can restore a sense. At 65, Sally and Paul Taylor decided they wanted to hear their first symphonies, their children's voices, and talk on the phone. This fascinating, 85-minute documentary follows the couple's complex, moving journey from the silent world they knew to a new -- and often profoundly challenging -- world of sound. Interweaving home video footage with behind-the-scenes moments of the Taylors before and after their operations, on doctor's visits, and in their daily lives, the film is a touching and highly emotional exploration of the psychological dimensions of adapting to a restored sense of hearing. Having been hearing impaired their entire lives, the Taylors must learn to recognize what they are hearing and, in the process, discover just how subjective the sense of sound can be.

• documentary
• drama