PBS will broadcast a new documentary today that looks at the life and career of award-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore features the performer, who is known for her roles in
The West Wing and
CODA. At the age of 21, Matlin became the first deaf actor to win an Oscar for her performance in 1987's
Children of a Lesser God. In the new documentary, she shares her story using native American Sign Language.
Sara Newens (pictured) edited the documentary, working alongside director Shoshannah Stern, who is also deaf. Newens helped craft a visual and editorial language that centered deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL) in ways rarely seen on-screen. From reimagining captioning and on-screen dialogue to navigating an entirely visual language without traditional voiceover or narration, Newens and the team pushed the boundaries of documentary storytelling.
The result is a film that doesn’t just tell Matlin’s story - it immerses the viewer in the lived experience of deaf identity, community and resilience, all while challenging long-held industry norms around accessibility and representation.
Here, Newens shares details about her work on the project.
Sara, what drew you to Marlee Matlin’s story, and how did you approach editing a project centered around someone who broke significant ground in Hollywood?
“From our very first meeting, I knew I wanted to work with our extraordinary director, Shoshannah Stern, who had already crystallized a bold thematic and visual approach to Marlee’s story. As she spoke about witnessing the milestones of Marlee’s career — after becoming the first deaf actor to win an Oscar in 1987 — I was moved by how deeply those moments shaped her own life and career. And it quickly became clear that Marlee’s journey in Hollywood could serve as an entry point to a broader, more nuanced conversation about deaf culture, community and identity — especially through the intimate, conversational style that Shoshannah envisioned.
“The guiding principle for the edit then became the exploration of both the triumphs and pitfalls of what it means to be ‘the first.’ I was particularly surprised to learn that Marlee has been viewed as a controversial figure while carrying the immense burden of representation almost entirely on her own as the most visible deaf performer on-screen. With this in mind, we approached the film’s structure by beginning at that initial inflection point of fame — meeting Marlee when the world first met her — so we could trace the full arc of her influence and impact on both Hollywood and the deaf community and beyond. And then after we had all of those story beats laid out, we looked for the most impactful moments to weave in her childhood or widen out for cultural context.”
You used negative spaces and avoided traditional voiceovers to elevate ASL. Can you share how you developed the film’s visual language to reflect that?
“I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we were excited for the opportunity to reimagine the film’s visual language and push the documentary form in some way. From day one, Shoshannah made accessibility a top priority, which shaped many decisions in production and post production. Not only did she choose to move away from the conventional reliance on an interpreter’s voice, but creative captioning (e.g. using a unique color for each speaker, moving text around in the frame) was also envisioned from the beginning. Working with DP Jon Shenk, the team designed a four-camera setup to capture every angle and ensure ASL remained fully visible at all times while framing the interviews with ample negative space for captions. This approach also inspired her to appear on-screen with Marlee, so audiences could see her in the same way they’d normally hear an interviewer — adding a powerful intimacy to the film.
“That said, it presented quite a creative challenge in the edit room, unlike anything I’ve faced. Working with a visual language meant there was very little room to condense soundbites — or ‘sightbites,’ as we called them — and no possibility for Frankenbiting. At the same time, we wanted to support the conversation with visuals, so we often used split-screen compositions in order to keep the ASL unobstructed and accessible – unlike traditional interviews, which can be layered under B-roll to cover jump cuts. As a result, the film contains only a handful of moments where we cut away to full-screen imagery and voiceover — and never while participants are using sign language.”
How did you balance honoring the deaf community’s experience and ensuring the film remains accessible to hearing audiences?
“Our priority was always to honor the deaf experience, though I don’t think anyone was truly worried about alienating hearing audiences. Not only is Marlee’s presence in this film just as engaging and powerful as her incredible career in film and television for over 35 years, but it became a joy to challenge some very outdated depictions of deaf people on-screen - especially the misconception that they live in silence. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Marlee looks at old publicity stills from Children of a Lesser God and immediately counters that idea, saying she is very loud and that her mind is never silent. And because Shoshannah chose not to include interpreters' voices, the film leans fully into the natural rhythms and textures of sign language, blending them with the ambient sounds of the environment so the interviews unfold almost like vérité scenes. In fact, I’ve heard many hearing viewers say these moments become the film’s superpower, particularly for those who don’t know ASL, because you literally cannot look away from the screen, or you could miss something!
“Shoshannah also felt it was essential for hearing audiences to experience sound from as close to Marlee’s perspective as possible, which opened up some really inventive opportunities in the sound mix. Our sound designer, Bonnie Wild, was able to carve out the sound of this one particular vérité dinner scene in a way I’ve never experienced in a film before. Certain words or syllables would break through, while others dissolve into indistinct noise, and sharp sounds like the crunch of a water bottle would pierce through the mix. One of my favorite audio descriptions in that scene is ‘words with no shape.’ So it becomes an incredibly immersive experience for the viewer that highlights the isolation some deaf people feel when surrounded by hearing family members who aren’t fluent in ASL. And I like to think that for all audiences, it becomes deeply moving to watch two deaf women having a heartfelt exchange, accompanied by archival material, verité moments from Marlee’s life, and pivotal moments in deaf history – all adding up to a very nuanced portrait of an undeniable trailblazer.”
What was your experience collaborating with a deaf-led team? How did that shape or challenge your editorial process?
“Collaborating with so many deaf creatives didn’t just reframe how I think about storytelling — it reshaped how I move through the world as a hearing person. It also gave me a deeper appreciation for the language and tools we need for clear, direct communication. I’ve slowly learned some ASL, but we always had interpreters present at meetings to keep the creative process flowing. The most effective workflow came from written notes via Frame.io and transcripts, which meant much more of the edit happened on paper than I’d experienced before, but it was quite successful.
“We also relied heavily on DPAN, an ASL transcription service that captioned the footage down to the exact frame of each sign, which allowed me to know precisely where to cut. Having a deaf assistant editor, MJ Kiego, was also an incredible asset, as she could advise on the technical aspects of editing a visual language, which in turn freed up Shoshannah to stay focused on the story.
“But overall, it was both humbling and transformative. It pushed me to slow down, listen differently, and embrace new ways of collaborating — and I think that spirit is reflected in the film itself. In fact, that ethos inspired the post-title opening sequence, where you see hearing interviewees looking a bit confused while getting fitted with earpieces to hear the interpreters. It was fun to flip a typical doc opening on its head by showing the hearing folks adapting to a deaf-led team and workflow for a change.”
In what ways do you think the film challenges conventional narratives about disability in media?
“The hearing world has heaped endless misinformed narratives onto the deaf community, with a long history we couldn’t fully unpack in this film. But we were able to illustrate some of them through key sequences. For instance, when Marlee was first nominated for an Oscar in 1987, she was asked incredibly insensitive questions, and some critics even dismissed her nomination as a ‘sympathy vote.’ Watching the raw footage, I was struck by how gracefully she handled those interrogations. But we actually chose to cut out her answers, because her facial expressions said it all. And I think seeing those back-to-back exchanges gave audiences a visceral sense of what she was up against.
“It was especially meaningful for me to hear Marlee reflect on that section during festival Q&As, where she shared that she would never answer those kinds of questions today, so the choice to omit her responses felt like a way to reclaim her power in that moment.
“We also highlighted how recently these biases persist. During the casting of the Oscar-winning film CODA, executives initially pushed to hire a big-name hearing actor for the role that ultimately went to Troy Kotsur. And Marlee had to threaten to walk away before they relented. Troy then went on to become only the second deaf actor ever to win an Oscar — a staggering 35 years after Marlee’s win — which speaks volumes about how slowly change has come and how far we still have to go.”
Looking back, is there a particular moment in the film that feels especially meaningful to you?
“There are so many, because this was truly one of the most rewarding editing experiences I’ve ever had! And not just because we were pushing against conventional narratives and experimenting with form, but because of Shoshannah’s incredibly thoughtful approach to some of the most painful chapters in Marlee’s life. I’ve worked on several films dealing with trauma and sexual abuse, so I’m always acutely aware of how filmmakers can either give survivors agency or risk retraumatizing them. I loved Shoshannah’s decision to simply sit with Marlee on the couch, creating a safe and comfortable environment to revisit certain relationships and difficult moments. She offered Marlee so much support — far more than what ultimately appears in the film — but it was beautiful to witness and remains one of the great privileges I’ve had as an editor.
“And then my responsibility was to focus on building an emotional truth by returning to certain moments with new layers of context — what we often called ‘the flip.’ My favorite example is Marlee’s 1987 Oscars win. At first, it plays as a triumphant, historic moment. But the second time around, the audience comes to understand that she was in a deep state of fear as she accepted the statue from her abuser. That iconic moment suddenly transforms into something far more complex, mirroring the way memory often works — circling back to difficult experiences and re-examining them again and again in search of clarity and meaning.”
Lastly, what editing software did you use for the film, and in what ways did the tools help you shape the story, especially with the visual and linguistic nuances of ASL?
“We cut the film in Avid, which was absolutely the right choice given the sheer volume of Marlee’s archival materials that spanned her body of film and TV work, decades of media coverage and tons of home videos. Avid’s media management and stability were essential in keeping that all organized and accessible throughout the process. However, because we were working in a visual language without any corresponding audio, tools like ScriptSync weren’t an option. So we supplemented our workflow with DPAN, an ASL transcription service that captioned every frame with precision so I would know exactly where to cut and be able to preserve the integrity of each sign. And since we were editing remotely, Avid's shared project functionality was essential and made for a smooth collaboration with our incredible post team — co-editor Kristina Motwani, associate editor Chris Artherholt, assistant editors MJ Kiego and Claire Stone, and additional editor Kevin Jones. I will also take this opportunity to shout out the phenomenal folks at Actual Films, led by producers Robyn Kopp, Justine Nagan and Bonni Cohen, who were instrumental in bringing this film to life–a shared experience I don’t think any of us will ever forget!”