CODA's World Premiere

It was on this day (Jan. 28, 2021) that the film CODA had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

In the movie CODA, Emilia Jones plays the only hearing member of a deaf family. She has to decide whether to leave and pursue her music dreams or stay at home to help her parents. The story is based on the French film La famille belier.

The costumes for the actors, including Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin, come from the imagination of veteran designer Brenda Abbandandolo, who tell the Hollywood Reporter that she had to:

“Make sure [actors] were comfortable and the clothes weren’t hindering their arms so they could sign throughout the film. These actors were incredible and I actually started to pick up a little bit of sign language. I wish I could sign a little bit more, but they were so happy to be there and they were so open to working with me and they were so generous sharing their experience… and the interpreters just became such a big part of the crew, maybe the most important part of the crew. They became your channel to communication until we learn how to read each other.“

Read the full story here.

CODA won these awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival:

Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic

Directing Award – U.S. Dramatic

Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble:

Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic

You can see the complete list of winners here. The film set a record for the largest sale in Sundance history, a $25 million deal with Apple. The American Film Institute named it one of the top 10 films of 2021.