‘Hearing, Remastered’
Released in support of World Hearing Day, Hill &Knowlton Strategies’ ‘The Sound of Hope’ for GN Hearing is a subtle piece of emotive documentary filmmaking that truly challenges the stigma attached to hearing loss.
UK based musician SIVU found himself being slowly disconnected from the artform that he loves, as hearing impairment became the new reality. Here, audiences are placed into the centre of the story and through SIVU’s own words contemplate the tremendous sense of burden and no doubt terrifying finality that must have been his experience. Being cut off from his artform or, better yet, his living seems comparable to a bird unlearning how to fly.
Hill & Knowlton’s opting for intimate, to-camera interviews interspersed between shots of SIVU collaborating in the studio is a muscular frame work on which to lay his story, knowing as we do how much was overcome to get there.
After GN Hearing’s intervention, SIVU was thankfully able tore-enter the studio, but this diamond in the rough story raises a further problematic figure: there are over 400 million people across the planet who experience hearing loss, of which only 1 in 5 eligible for hearing aids take advantage of them.
'The Sound of Hope' may not reinvent the wheel in terms of stylistic choice, but raising awareness with a brand film of this quality isn’t only good business for GN, it’s simply necessary. With 2 Brand Film Awards Bronze titles to its name, it's a strong example of what a stripped back Showcase piece can be.
