Sign on Screen

The 2026 Sign on Screen Festival is taking place over three days at the NFSA from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 May.

Sign on Screen is an Australian Research Council-funded project about the representation of sign languages on cinema, television and digital screens. A Deaf-hearing collaboration, it celebrates Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) perspectives and self-determination in filmmaking, to showcase the diversity of sign language cinemas and to critique the history of hearing ableism (or audism) in film.

Sign On Screen is a rare opportunity for those working in the Australian screen industry to network and build bridges with Deaf and HoH key creatives. Special guests of the festival include Deaf and HoH filmmakers, actors and academics Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu, Sofya Gollan, Rodney Adams, Breda Carty, Avni Dauti, Irene Holub, Victoria Singh Thompson, Julian Walsh, Nathan Borg and Sam Martin.

The festival’s Opening Night Gala will feature a program of award-winning Australian Deaf-led shorts in Auslan, English and Yolŋu Sign Language. Saturday and Sunday will combine feature drama and documentary films with sign language and from international Deaf and Deafblind creatives (Not Alone Anymore, Children of a Lesser God, Retreat, Deaf President Now! and Imagined Touch) alongside festival workshops, networking opportunities and panel discussions on Auslan, Indigenous Sign Languages, and career pathways for Deaf or HoH screen creatives working in Australia.

Visit the Sign On Screen website for program details. Full program and free ticket registrations on the NFSA website are coming soon!

All events are free and presented in the NFSA's beautiful art deco Arc Cinema equipped with hearing loop capability.

All workshop and panel events will be Auslan<>English interpreted and all screenings will feature English-language SDH captions.

Dom's deli and bar is available onsite at the NFSA for all your food and beverage needs.

Sign On Screen is a collaboration between the Australian National University, Deaf Connect, the Australian Research Council and the NFSA.