CODA
Short description
CODA centres on Ruby Rossi, a teenager who is the only hearing member of a deaf family in a New England fishing town. Her parents and older brother rely on her to interpret and to keep the family's fishing operation running, and she feels the weight of that responsibility every day. When she joins her school choir, a teacher recognises her singing ability and pushes her toward serious study. Ruby is then pulled between plans to leave home for a music programme and the fear that her family cannot manage without her.
The film is written and directed by Siân Heder, following her earlier feature Tallulah and preceding Being Heumann in her filmography. Emilia Jones plays Ruby, with Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant, Eugenio Derbez and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo among the cast. It was produced by Patrick Wachsberger, Philippe Rousselet and Jérôme Seydoux.
Made for a budget of 10 million US dollars, CODA was a modest performer at the worldwide box office. Audiences have received it warmly, with an 8 out of 10 rating on IMDb across roughly 205,000 votes and 7.9 out of 10 on TMDB, where the vote count is far smaller. The film critics' rating stands at 7.8 out of 10 from 301 reviews, broadly consistent with viewer response.
What's left behind the scenes
- The fishing scenes were filmed on location, so the actors and crew had to follow local regulations. On one filming day, they even had to bring an observer for the open sea shoot, which meant someone from the crew had to stay ashore, as the trawler could only accommodate a limited number of people.
- Emilia Jones spent nine months learning American Sign Language, taking singing lessons, and learning to operate a fishing trawler.
- The interpreters on set were exclusively children of deaf parents.
- Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. Marlee Matlin, who played his wife in the film, became the first deaf actress to win an Oscar in the Best Actress category 35 years ago. This happened at the 59th Academy Awards ceremony on March 30, 1987, when the award went to Randa Haines' "Children of a Lesser God" (1986).
- In addition to the acronym "CODA" meaning "child of deaf adults" in English, the word also denotes the concluding part of a musical piece. The "coda" symbol can be seen on the page of musical symbols in Ruby's teaching scene.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
