FEELING THROUGH
The Should-Be Oscar Winner for Short Film
”Feeling Through” is an 18-minute short film distributed by Omeleto and streaming on YouTube. It is about a homeless teen, who changes after meeting a deaf and blind man on the streets. Doug Roland directs the film. In the beginning, the boy is chilling with his friends on a street corner. He texts a friend to crash at her place. She doesn’t respond, and the homeless teen leaves and gets lost in the city, looking for a place to stay. He texts others, but no one answers, and he wanders alone until he meets a deaf and blind person. The deaf man asks for directions to the M15 bus, and the boy leads him to the nearest bus stop. Once they arrive, the deaf and blind man asks the boy to take him to the nearest bodega.
He takes the man to a store and buys him a can of soda and a Snickers bar. At the store, the clerk stares at the deaf and blind man who is staring at nothing.
The teenager “rescues” the deaf and blind man, asking the clerk if he’s “ever seen a deaf and blind man before.” They bond on the walk back; but they miss the bus. The boy’s last contact to find a place to sleep crashes. He is stuck on the streets for the night because he spent all his time helping the blind man.
They start communicating with each other by writing on paper while waiting for the bus. The boy writes on the blind man’s hand while the blind man scripts notes. Reading through the blind man’s writings, the boy sees a message that reads, “Can I kiss you?” It is a powerful moment. Finally, the bus arrives, and the boy makes sure the driver taps the blind man at 129th St. The two split up, but hug each other before parting. Then, the boy leaves to walk about the city without a place to stay. Nonetheless, the encounter with the blind man teaches the homeless teen empathy and leaves him more optimistic.
