Nice Talking to You
2018 · 19m · USA
Directed by Saim Sadiq
Tones: contemplative, tender
Two strangers meet at an American Sign Language poetry event in New York City and spend the night wandering the streets, communicating exclusively in ASL and forming an unexpected romantic connection without speaking a word.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Two hearing actors fall for each other in ASL across one New York night. Before-Sunrise-in-sign-language is a beautiful constraint — Saim Sadiq made Joyland after this and it shows in the patience.
Saim Sadiq's pre-Joyland student work, staging an entire Linklater-style romance through ASL between hearing characters — turning silence into the medium of attraction. BAFTA-shortlisted, formally inventive, exactly the kind of student film that announces a sensibility.
A 19-minute Before Sunrise-style romance unfolding entirely in ASL between two hearing characters is a bold framework — it makes silence the romantic language rather than the obstacle. Saim Sadiq pre-Joyland; you can see the patient-attention DNA already.
Reviews
Genuine and engaging, the film is reminiscent of Linklater's Before trilogy, with two amazing performances and a magnetic chemistry.
Sadiq's screenplay never becomes saccharine, with contrived emotions, or manufactures overly dramatic stakes. It is the authenticity that makes the film so compelling.
Festivals
- SXSW Film Festival 2019
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2019
- Columbia University Film Festival 2018, Vimeo Best Director
- BAFTA Student Film Awards 2019
- Hamptons International Film Festival 2019
- Encounters Film Festival 2019