Entertainment

Oscar-winning film Coda re-released to UK cinemas after awards success

The film with a primarily deaf cast will be shown in UK cinemas with open captions from April 8.
The film with a primarily deaf cast will be shown in UK cinemas with open captions from April 8. The film with a primarily deaf cast will be shown in UK cinemas with open captions from April 8.

Pioneering family drama Coda is returning to UK cinemas after it broke records winning three Academy Awards.

Apple has announced it is re-releasing the film from April 8 with open captions after it swept the categories in which it was nominated at the 94th awards ceremony, including best picture.

The original low-budget festival film stars deaf actor Troy Kotsur, who won a Bafta and an Oscar for best supporting actor, playing a deaf father to a hearing child.

CODA Reaction Deaf Community
CODA Reaction Deaf Community Eugenio Derbez, Sian Heder, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Emilia Jones, Daniel Durant and Amy Forsyth, winners of the award for best picture for Coda (Jordan Strauss/AP)

He made history as the first deaf male performer to win at the Academy awards ceremony, while AppleTV+ became the first streamer to win best picture.

It was also the first film with a primarily deaf cast to win top prize at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards.

The film stars Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, the child of deaf adults (Coda), and deaf performers Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant as her family.

It follows Ruby, the only hearing member of her family, as she struggles to balance high-school and assisting with the family fishing business.

British Academy Film Awards 2022 – Press Room – London
British Academy Film Awards 2022 – Press Room – London Troy Kotsur after winning the Supporting Actor Bafta award (Ian West/PA)

Her passion for singing leads her to join the school choir, tutored by her eccentric mentor Mr Villalobos, played by Eugenio Derbez, who encourages her to audition for Berklee College Of Music.

The film, adapted by Heder as an English-language remake of the 2014 French-language film La Famille Belier, also won the best adapted screenplay Oscar.

Coda will be re-released in UK cinemas with open captions to be accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing from April 8.