1904 Deaf Film Festival

This film festival was inspired by the call by National Association of the Deaf (NAD) 6th President, Dr. James L. Smith, to preserve of sign language, at its national convention during the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. At that convention, George W. Veditz was elected as the 7th president of NAD. George W. Veditz led the production of the infamous film, "The Preservation of Sign Language", completed in 1913. In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. With the call for "The Preservation of Sign Language", DEAF, Inc. established 1904 Deaf Film Festival which will hosted during its Deaf Visual Arts Festival (DVAF), to champion the emerging deaf filmmaking talents and their work, and at the same time preserve any type of sign languages (domestic or foreign).