Deaf screenwriter mines theme of communication in Manitoba-shot post-apocalyptic movie Finality of Dusk

As the Manitoba-lensed film Finality of Dusk had its Canadian premiere at this week's Whistler Film Festival in Vancouver, it's likely no one was paying closer attention to the movie's soundtrack than its co-writer Katarina Ziervogel.

Bear in mind, the 26-year-old is deaf.

The Winnipeg-raised Ziervogel came to the film at the behest of co-writer/director Madison Thomas. The story is set in 2045, when the atmosphere has become toxic, requiring survivors to wear special breathing helmets. 

Ishkode (Marika Sila), an Ojibway woman with impressive martial arts skills, meets Niife (Cherrel Holder), a Nigerian climate refugee searching for her sister in a remote part of northern Manitoba. (The film was shot in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba locations, including Pinawa, Stony Mountain, Cooks Creek and Vivian.)

Though they don't speak the same language, the two come to rely on each other for survival. 

"Madison asked me to consult on this film, at first because she wanted my help on how to make it work between two main characters who communicate through body language due to a language barrier," Ziervogel recalled in an email interview.

Ultimately as a co-writer, Ziervogel — who has a radio-television arts degree from Toronto Metropolitan University — helped create a deeper layer of the communication theme with deaf characters, including the women's brutal nemesis Odin (played by Edmonton-based actor Chris Dodd, who is also deaf).

Ziervogel, who is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation and describes herself as Ojibway, Mohawk and German, was unfamiliar with the subgenre of Indigenous futurism, which Finality of Dusk exemplifies.

But she came to the film with an appreciation for the broader post-apocalyptic genre, which tends to emphasize actions over words, including hits such as A Quiet Place (which, like Finality of Dusk, has deaf characters portrayed by deaf actors) and Mad Max: Fury Road.

"Both [of those] were great, but my favourite post-apocalyptic film would be The Road," Ziervogel said of the 2009 film by John Hillcoat, adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy.

"I only watched it once, but it left such a profound impact on me," Ziervogel said.

"Unlike other post-apocalyptic films, The Road is utterly devoid of hope for the survival of humankind. But despite its brutish end, it shows how remarkably resilient humans can be."

In her childhood, Ziervogel also enjoyed old silent movies, where soundtracks did not factor into an audience's appreciation of the film.

That meant for deaf people, early movies were "an inclusive experience … to share with hearing people in a movie theatre," Ziervogel said.

"All that changed when sound was introduced to film."

Even now, movie theatres are still not always accessible to deaf audiences, she said.

"That's why I wanted this film to have open subtitles burned in, so we don't have to worry about the technical issues" that come with the closed captioning offered by some cinemas.

But Ziervogel emphasized that a soundtrack can be enjoyed by a deaf audience.

"The soundtrack is an integral part of filmmaking, and while I don't experience it the same way as hearing people do, I can tell how dramatic the scene is supposed to be based on the vibration I feel through my chair at the movie theatre," she said.

"There's a common misconception that Deaf people don't appreciate music, but we do!" wrote Ziervogel. "For example, I like music with the most bass, which tends to be jazz."

She worked in post-production with the film's sound design supervisor, Daniel Pellerin, once the physical shoot was wrapped.

"It was a fun experience," Ziervogel said. "I never thought I'd be included in that process, so it was new to them and me."

Beyond Finality of Dusk, Ziervogel has another big project on the horizon — she was cast in the upcoming Marvel TV series Echo, about a deaf Cheyenne-Latin American warrior (played by deaf actress Alaqua Cox) who can mimic the powers and fighting skills of others.

Ziervogel can't say much about the project right now without Disney's go-ahead, except to acknowledge she plays the heroine's deaf mother.

'One of the hardest auditions I ever had'

Finality of Dusk's Cherrel Holder, who plays the refugee Niife, says the role came with challenges beyond shooting in chilly outdoor locations in some of the more barren-looking parts of the province in the spring.

One was an audition process in which she wasn't asked to speak any lines.

"It was probably one of the hardest auditions I ever had because I rely on lines to create emotions and facial expressions," said Holder, a Winnipegger who previously worked with Finality of Dusk director Thomas on the TV series Burden of Truth.

She does speak in the role. Holder, who was born in Trinidad, plays a Nigerian and so had learn to speak Yoruba, one of the three main languages spoken in Nigeria.

She consulted with a friend and her brother-in-law, who speak the language, to make her lines of dialogue sound realistic.

"They were so excited to teach me the language," Holder said in a phone interview. "My family history is we were slaves were brought over from Africa into the Caribbean, so we had no connection to our roots."

The role also required her to wear something like a space helmet through much of the shoot, but that wasn't altogether a bad thing, Holder said.

"Especially with it being cold — it shielded me from the wind," she said.

It also created a barrier between her and the camera — oddly, another advantage, she said.

"When you do close-ups, it can feel kind of terrifying … and I thought the mask was, in a way, a bit of a safety blanket," said Holder. 

"It also muffled the sound from everyone. So you were in your own little world."

Marika Sila, an Inuvialuk actress originally from Yellowknife and currently based in Vancouver, likewise embraced the challenges in the role of Ishkode.

A dancer who specializes in stunt work and martial arts, Sila said the near absence of dialogue allowed her to flex her other performance muscles.

"I feel like it really pushed my acting skills to tell a story without having dialogue," she said in a phone interview, adding Thomas was "amazing to work with."

"Working on this set was really special."

Finality of Dusk had its Canadian premiere at the Whistler Film Festival on Nov. 30. There will be a virtual screening as part of the festival on Monday.