Sign Language Week: “The importance of BSL cannot be understated”

Ethan Blake Brooks, a Film graduate from USW, worked as producer and director on the BBC series Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks? which will be aired later this month. To mark Sign Language Week (17-23 March), we find out more about Ethan and his work.

The 28-year-old, who is originally from Holywell, North Wales and now lives in Bristol, originally came to USW to study Documentary Photography, having always been drawn to the camera. But after making a short documentary film in his first year, Ethan became so interested in the moving image as a medium of storytelling, that he made the switch to BA Film, and graduated in 2018 with a first-class honours degree.

Since then, Ethan’s career has seen him exploring the depths of fishermen’s lives at sea, to documenting the extent of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, and everything in between – earning him awards and recognition from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society for his work in Wales and South West. Ethan is also an advocate for d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent talent to be given equal opportunities in the screen industry.

Ethan was invited by Rogan Productions, creators of the previous BBC documentary Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change, to work on their next programme, which follows a group of retirees embarking on a journey of learning sign language in a short space of time – proving it’s never too late to learn something new.

“I knew this could be something really special,” he said. “I was already a huge admirer of Signs for Change, so it was an easy decision for me to get involved.

“I was part of a fantastic production team who I learned so much from. It was a huge team effort from everyone involved.

“It’s so important to have d/Deaf role models like Rose on TV. We live in a time where there are more ways of consuming content than ever before, and with this comes the need for fresh perspectives and greater visibility of diversity – told by diversity.

“Personally, I didn’t connect with British Sign Language (BSL) until my early 20s; up until this point, I hadn’t interacted with the d/Deaf community, despite my own deafness from a very young age.

“However, that all changed when I worked on a d/Deaf magazine programme, BBC’s See Hear. Fast forward to now, and I’m about to sit my Level 3 BSL exams – with no plans to stop!

“It’s a beautiful language, and I often find myself having more energy after a conversation in BSL, then a stuttering back and forth in spoken English with my dodgy lipreading.

“The importance of BSL to the d/Deaf community cannot be understated. They have fought tirelessly for the recognition and protection of their culture and language.

“We’re now finally starting to see some changes, through the BSL Act and the introduction of a BSL GCSE, but these milestones aren’t enough. There is a severe shortage of BSL interpreters, and d/Deaf people continue to face barriers in accessing basic public services, to name just a few. More d/Deaf awareness is needed, and I hope this documentary can play its part in that.”

Episode 1 of Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks? will be shown on BBC on Wednesday 26 March at 9pm. More information is available on BBC iPlayer.