Hillel, Middle Eastern Cultural Association partner for film screening Nov. 8

Enjoy dinner and a movie with the Cleveland Hillel Foundation and the Middle Eastern Cultural Association Thursday, Nov. 8, as they partner with the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center to present the film Voices from El-Sayed.

All are invited to watch the film and meet its director, Oded Adomi Leshem, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Hillel Building. Free food will be provided.

Voices from El-Sayed chronicles the story of Salim El-Sayed and his deaf son in the Israeli village of El-Sayed. This village has the largest percentage of deaf individuals in the world, yet prohibits the use of assistive listening devices (hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc.).

The film focuses on Salim El-Sayed’s controversial decision to give his son a cochlear implant, a decision that challenged the region’s tradition of separation between deaf and hearing communities.