Movie about Jesus’ life, death, premiering in American Sign Language in Iowa

A Council Bluffs-based Christian ministry called Deaf Missions is bringing the story of Jesus to the big screen as a feature film entirely in American Sign Language.

The movie, “Jesus: A Deaf Missions Film,” was produced for deaf people by deaf people, with a cast and crew fluent in American Sign Language. The film includes a soundtrack and English subtitles.

The movie is showing June 20 and June 23 at select theaters in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Altoona and West Des Moines. The movie will screen at the Marcus Cedar Rapids Cinema at 7 p.m. June 20 and 2 p.m. June 23. Tickets and other showtimes can be found at jesusdeaffilm.com.

“This was a huge experience for everyone, this Jesus movie built and created for and by a deaf audience,” said film director Joseph Josselyn, a producer at Deaf Missions who lives just outside Council Bluffs.

The film will be in more than 300 movie theaters. A movie made in American Sign Language never has been distributed nationwide, Josselyn said.

Deaf Missions raised $5 million over several years to produce the film. Parts of the movie were filmed in Council Bluffs as well as in California, Texas, Louisiana, Utah and Bulgaria, Josselyn said.

“Even if you’re not Christian, or for deaf people who aren’t believers, this is a momentous occasion,” he said. “It’s a huge step forward for the deaf community that we can do more.

“Typically, deaf people enjoy movies dependent on captions. There’s a disconnect there,” Josselyn said through an interpreter.

“With this movie being done in sign language, you can look at the character and actor directly and see what’s happening. It was very intentional the way we did this for deaf eyes.”

Deaf Missions is an international Christian ministry dedicated to clearly communicating the Gospel of Jesus with deaf people through their language, culture and identity.

Deaf Missions serves people in more than 100 countries by creating video content in sign language and equipping deaf leaders by providing resources and training in their language.

Portraying Jesus

Gideon Firl, who portrays Jesus in the film, said he was “familiar with God’s word” when he was cast but “lukewarm” in his faith.

Playing the role of Jesus “put me to the test. I can’t let this be a fake thing in my life,” he said.

The script was written in English, and American Sign Language coaches were available to the actors as they worked through the dialogue.

“English and sign language is very different,” Josselyn said. “I told all of our actors not to follow the exact verbiage of the script. I want the message to be expressed by signs. I wanted it to feel natural to them and the deaf community.”

Firl, as a deaf actor, said he had “to be comfortable with both English and sign language to be able to convey the message of the script adequately. I needed to be able to capture the spirit of the message, the heart of the message.”

After filming, the movie had to be put back into text to write the subtitles, Josselyn said. “It looks quite different from the original script,” he said.

American Sign Language is one of about 400 sign languages worldwide, Josselyn said. They’re considering using “sign dubbing” to adapt the film for other sign languages. For now, he said, it is being adapted with subtitles in other languages.

Josselyn hopes the movie will be picked up by a streaming service after its release to make it widely accessible.

C.R. helper

Vania Kassouf, a deaf advocate and virtual instructor in American Sign Language in Cedar Rapids, was an assistant director for the film. She helped ensure actors made it to and from the set.

Kassouf said she struggled to understand what was being taught in church when she was growing up. Being able to see the story of Jesus in sign language can be life-changing, she said.

Learning about the Bible and life of Jesus in American Sign Language has brought her closer to God, she added.

Seeing the film, she said, “felt like my dream came true. It was straight to my heart.”

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