The Heart of the Hydrogen Jukebox (Miriam Nathan, 2009)

The Heart of the Hydrogen Jukebox is a documentary film by Miriam Nathan with Don Feigel that traces the evolution of American Sign Language (ASL) poetry. Interviews and archival footage from the 1970's, 80's, and 90's reveal how Deaf poets broke away from the constraints of English form to discover how the unique grammar and startling visual clarity of ASL could become a distinct poetics form all its own. One segment, from which the film's title is derived, shows an historic 1984 meeting between Deaf poets and Allen Ginsberg which culminated in an Ah-ha! moment for ASL artists in the room. Praise for The Heart of the Hydrogen Jukebox: This is the kind of film we have all been waiting for. It is beautifully crafted, conveys a powerful sense of Deaf history, gives us access to several magnificent pieces of work, and is woven together by contributions from commentators who bring both dignity and wisdom to the screen. -Paddy Ladd author of Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood The Heart of the Hydrogen Jukebox is a truly important, historic poetics document which should be in every poet's, writing teacher's and linguist's collection. It's a marvelous gift that deaf poets have given us all and to their own community, a compendium of the variety of performance and literary styles of individual poets, and an exploration of how one moves from isolation to community through bridging the gaps between us. -David Cope, poet author of Moonlight Rose in Blue: the selected poems (1974-2009)