When Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, it wasn’t just another biographical documentary gracing the big screen. Instead, it was the culmination of a decades-long journey—one that began with a 21-year-old Deaf actress making history at the Oscars and continued with a groundbreaking demand: Matlin’s story would only be told if a Deaf woman directed it. For Matlin, the choice was obvious. “I said, Shoshannah Stern,” she recalled in an interview with DECIDER. “It was a no-brainer for me because clearly to direct my life story as a deaf woman, who we both are and have similar journeys and have similar experiences. The rest is history. It turned out bigger than we both anticipated because of Shoshannah. It’s because of Shoshannah, that’s why.”
Directed by Stern—herself a celebrated Deaf actress and writer making her feature-length directorial debut—the film is as much a celebration of Deaf culture as it is a portrait of one of its most influential figures. The documentary, which premiered at Sundance on January 20, 2025, and received a theatrical release on June 20, 2025, is presented in both English and American Sign Language (ASL), with ASL serving as the primary language throughout. This creative decision, as Stern explained, was not just about authenticity: “The form of documentaries as we know it has been really rooted and based in sound. Because for so long, documentaries have been about hearing people, for hearing people. I kept thinking, how will I manage to reframe the form?”
What emerged is a visually and emotionally rich film that doesn’t just recount Matlin’s achievements—it invites viewers to experience her world from the inside. The documentary features interviews with an impressive array of Hollywood figures who have worked with or been inspired by Matlin, including Henry Winkler, Aaron Sorkin, Lauren Ridloff, Sian Heder, and Troy Kotsur. It also draws on the perspectives of Matlin’s longtime interpreter and producing partner Jack Jason, director Randa Haines, and accessibility advocate Liz Tannebaum. Each voice underscores the central theme: Marlee Matlin’s journey is not only her own, but one that has paved the way for generations of Deaf and hearing artists alike.
For Stern, the connection to Matlin’s story runs deep. She recalls seeing Matlin win the Academy Award for Children of a Lesser God as a child and realizing for the first time that she could see herself on screen. “That was the first time that I saw myself represented on screen, which was pretty impactful for my life because I do have deaf family members, but every time I envisioned myself in film or in TV shows, I always still saw myself as a hearing person because I didn’t realize that I’d never seen a deaf person in those roles before. So when she won, that was a huge deal to me.”
Their paths eventually crossed in Los Angeles, where Stern began her own acting career. But it wasn’t until 2023, over a casual lunch with American Masters, that the idea for the documentary took shape. Matlin agreed to participate, but with one non-negotiable request: the director must be a Deaf woman. “It was just one part of their series of shows. I thought, well, yeah. We’re all sitting around having lunch, casually talking. I said, sure, it sounds great, except on one condition: it has to be directed by a Deaf woman. And they said, ok, well who would that be? And I said, Shoshannah Stern. It was a no-brainer for me.”
From the outset, Stern was determined to make ASL not just a feature of the documentary, but its very backbone. The production involved a Deaf director of photography, and the team paid close attention to how scenes were framed and edited to best capture the nuances of sign language. “We had talked about adding split-screen in there a little bit, and we were trying to figure out the format and the measurements, like how much black needed to be on the top and the bottom, how the screen would slide, what the speed of it [would be]. But honestly, the film gave us a lot of visual examples just from being able to be with Marlee while we were on set and just being who Marlee and I are. Like she said, we have a shared communication. We both communicate in American Sign Language.”
The documentary doesn’t shy away from the challenges Matlin faced after her historic Oscar win. She became the first Deaf person to join the Directors Guild of America and even directed an episode of network TV—a milestone captured on film as she works with Lauren Ridloff on the set of Accused. The scene, Stern said, was especially powerful: “To be able to see Marlee working with Lauren Ridloff, or to be working with other Deaf actors on set, to have those one-on-one interactions. To see those, it was so emotional for me, and triggering too, because I was like wow, I’ve never been directed that way, the way that I saw Marlee direct on set.”
Matlin, for her part, remains candid about the extra hurdles Deaf artists continue to face in Hollywood. “We have to sort of work two or three or four times harder to get work. To be accepted for our work. Whereas other people outside of our culture or outside of our community are still, I wouldn’t say necessarily afraid, but they’re hesitant to give us the job. It doesn’t happen that way. So I don’t have the luxury of being choosy about what I do and what I don’t do.” Still, she expresses hope for the future, especially as more Deaf stories begin to find their way into mainstream media.
One of the film’s most poignant discussions centers on the lack of Deaf stories in Hollywood since Children of a Lesser God. Matlin reflected, “Those stories aren’t authentic. Children of a Lesser God continues to be the stage production, the premier one, the only one. They’re just not open-minded enough to develop other stories. That’s basically it.” Stern added, “Being the first means being alone, and there is a lot of weight that that person is having to carry. Marlee has changed a lot. She’s grown a lot. I think that’s very clear in the documentary. She was so young. She was practically a baby when she first acted. And then to be able to carry that responsibility of being a spokesperson for the whole Deaf community, she carried that so well, of course with some pain.”
Yet, both women are optimistic that the documentary’s success will inspire more diverse stories and greater accessibility in the industry. “Every story deserves to be told from several different perspectives. And so my hope now that we have this documentary, it can prove just how exciting accessibility can be. It doesn’t just have to be about the form itself, which is why I get so excited about art,” Stern said.
For viewers in Australia eager to watch the film, there’s a workaround: by using a VPN to connect to a US server, audiences can stream Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore on PBS.org or through the official PBS App, bypassing geo-restrictions. The documentary, which runs for approximately 98 minutes, will make its broadcast premiere at 9pm ET on October 14, 2025, on local PBS channels.
As Matlin’s hands move through the air in ASL, and Stern’s camera captures every gesture, the film offers not just a portrait of a remarkable woman, but a call to action: to listen, to learn, and to make sure that no one ever feels alone when their story can change the world.
