Sandringham actor and aspiring film-maker, Ana Maria Belo, has brought a condition of suffering to life with vitality on the small screen.
Ms Belo made a film called 'The Kid's Table', a five-minute short that shines a light on hearing loss.
The film has been selected as a finalist in the highly competitive NOVA Employment Focus on Ability Film Festival. It was selected amongst 245 entries from 26 countries.
It stars Gymea Bay's Charlie Francis, 5, who has hearing loss.
Charlie and Ms Belo met in 2018 at an event at The Shepherd Centre, a world-leading charity that helps children with hearing loss learn to listen and speak.
Diagnosed at birth with moderate-severe hearing loss in her right ear and severe-profound hearing loss in her left ear, Charlie attended The Shepherd Centre for the past five years, eventually graduating with speech and sound on par with her hearing peers. She now has bilateral cochlear implants and is thriving in her first year at school.
The interesting aspect of the pairing is that Ms Belo also has hearing loss. Last year she was invited to become an ambassador to The Shepherd Centre to inspire young people with hearing loss by showing them that, regardless of their disability, they can go on to pursue their dreams and establish a career in their chosen field.
Ms Belo is an award-winning actor who has performed in highly acclaimed plays and musicals around Australia and appeared on television and film. She dreams of becoming an established film-maker. She also teaches acting and musical theatre.
'When I was asked to be an ambassador, I wasn't sure what I could do to help," she said.
"Then this little idea for a film came to me. When I met Charlie, I knew she was perfect for the film. She was a day shy of turning five when we shot this and it is her very first acting role. I had just finished the script the night before.
"I am hearing impaired and the story came to me on how I deal with arguments. For people who are deaf you can end an argument by turning the lights off. I wanted to tell that story.
"But in this film you see this through the eyes of a child. I wanted to say love and how we express love is not just in words. We feel and realise love in different ways and people who are vision and hearing impaired have to modify how they see and feel things."
She said it was wonderful working with Charlie who was selected as the face of The Shepherd Centre's 2017 Christmas Appeal.
"It was phenomenal," she said. "She absolutely shines in this film. If she wants to go into acting she has a wonderful future."
'I'm so proud of what can be achieved through organisations like The Shepherd Centre. I really hope this short film can help open the conversation about hearing loss."
The winner will be announced on September 6 and votes close on July 3.
Ms Belo hopes that people will take away a special message from her film.
"In the words of Helen Keller, 'The most beautiful things are not just seen or heard, they are felt with the heart.' "
See and vote for the film here.
