Greetings again from the darkness. Think back to the days when we interacted with other people ... shopping at stores and walking city sidewalks. Now imagine you are out late one night, and you spot someone standing on a street corner. They are holding a sign that reads "Deaf-Blind. Need help". Do you help or do you walk on by?
Writer-director Doug Roland based this 18 minute short film on a real life encounter he had with a deaf-blind person. In his film, we first see Tereek (Steven Prescord) as a young man walking the streets and hanging out with friends. Ultimately, he has nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep. From across the street, he spots Artie (Robert Tarango) holding a sign like the one mentioned above. Initially awkward, Tereek figures out how to communicate with Artie and helps him to his bus stop.
Mr. Tarango is a deaf-blind actor, and makes it easy for us to believe Tereek would connect with him in this situation. Filmmaker Roland handles the encounter with the sensitivity and realism it deserves, and both actors are terrific. The film helps re-store our faith in humanity at a time it's desperately needed, and reminds us that there is always someone facing greater challenges than ours. Putting ourselves in the shoes of others makes the Golden Rule a natural instinct.
