Sign on Screen is a collaboration between Deaf and hearing researchers at the Australian National University, Deaf filmmakers, the National Film and Sound Archive and Deaf Connect.

Led by DECRA Fellow and a Senior Lecturer in French at the ANU, Gemma King, the project is an Australian Research Council-funded study of the representation of sign languages on cinema, television and digital screens. A Deaf-hearing collaboration, it aims to celebrate Deaf 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. Here you can learn about our people, partners, publications and news and events, including the Sign on Screen Film Festival, which will be free to the public at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, May 1-3, 2026. You can also use our film finder tool to find your next sign language movie or series to watch, use our data to conduct your own research and learn more about the world of sign language cinemas.

More information about the project, partners and publications is available on the website Sign on Screen.

Please direct any queries to Gemma King  gemma.king@anu.edu.au including requests regarding our database of sign language films and series, which is freely available to support research and arts activities. 

We are open to proposals for national and international research, industry and community collaborations.