A Deaf man grapples with his sense of identity in a hearing world. He is taken on a fabulistic journey through time to one of the most significant events in Deaf history: the Milan Conference on the Education of the Deaf in 1880, when sign language was banned from use in education.

[Poster image description: A film poster for the film “Old Mother Tongue.“ The poster shows a circle of five different sketched people inside against a gray background. A brown banner with black text is in the middle: “Old Mother Tongue.” The circle is surrounded by fancy doodles and four images in corners clockwise: a diploma, chains, a book, and a cochlear implant. The poster’s background is blue-green with an antique appearance, framed by lines. On the top is a banner with three hand shapes in white: “CAM.” Underneath the banner is white text: “presents.” On the bottom, white text: A film by Mark Trifunovic.” then production credits. Underneath are logos for the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and Toronto.]

[Movie still image description: A group of assembled individuals standing in rows with some standing in the back, some kneeling or sitting in the middle, and some lying on the ground in front. They all are masked up and some are signing the ILY sign to the camera. Some hold up handwritten posters with one showing “Deaf Education” and another showing “Deaf Rights”.]