"Many times people that hear can't communicate," warns one of the counselors at the Alabama Institute's School for the Deaf. Here the students are taught manifold forms of alternate communication often requiring quite dexterous levels of observation, as mirrored in Wiseman's steadfast, patient filmmaking. Putting his audience to work alongside the committed students, Wiseman allows the beauty and mystery of gestures to take over—occasionally, signing carries on "untranslated"—while viewers' senses adjust to a frequently otherworldly realm where busy hallways may be silent, yet much of the classroom routines, drama and mischief remain. Punctuated by an excruciatingly awkward scene of a troubled child in conference with his mother, a counselor and the principal, Deaf describes the particular layers of emotional and physical challenges for these students and staff as it outlines the delicate, multi-faceted signals all humans continually transmit. — BG