Sian Heder’s “CODA,” one of the Sundance Film Festival’s opening-day films, follows a 17-year-old high school student, played by Emilia Jones, above, who is torn between pursuing her love of music and staying to help her hearing-impaired family’s fishing business. The family is portrayed by deaf actors Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant and Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Filmmaker Sian Heder reinvented her way of directing while making “CODA,” which will premiere on Jan. 28 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Heder learned American Sign Language because the feature film is about a 17-year-old girl, played by Emilia Jones, who is torn between pursuing her love of music and the fear of abandoning her deaf family, portrayed by deaf actors Marlee Martin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant.