Louder Than Words
Louder Than Words follows a young musician named Ansel (Luke Farley), and his unexpected encounter with Niall (Marty Lauter also known as Marcia Marcia Marcia from Season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race), an endearing, deaf dancer.
When forced to share a studio space, artists Ansel and Niall find themselves awkwardly beside each other, performing song and dance respectively. They have an underlying connection, and that is a closeted interest and admiration of each other. While Niall can read lips, an obvious language barrier still stands between him and Ansel. In order to communicate, Ansel and Niall must step out of their comfort zones, because even though they share similar passions and quickly inspire each other, the inevitable risk of miscommunication—both in language and emotion—remains, rendering their hidden affection almost impossible to express.
The film explores the sheer struggle that queer people often face in a culture that is yet to fully foster accepting spaces for courtship and love. At its core, the story portrays how difficult it can be to communicate romantic interest as a queer person, and in this case, the added impediment of being deaf.
