#deaftravel: Deaf Tourism in Bali

Synopsis

An ethnographic film that explores the experiences of deaf tourists who visited Bali in the summer of 2018. The tourists from Europe, the USA, and India joined tours guided by two deaf tour guides, Wahyu and Gio, who each had their own styles of guiding and travel. The film shows how they learn and use International Sign, BISINDO (Indonesian Sign Language), and snippets of other sign languages; and how they use gestures with hearing Indonesians. The tour guides, tourists and Balinese deaf people reflect on the ethics of tourists visiting deaf schools and a “deaf village” in north Bali, where Kata Kolok, a hyper-local sign language is used. The film ends with a reflection on various forms of mobility within Bali and throughout the world.