Audible release date: Netflix documentary to explore deaf high school football team
Short documentary focuses on star football player Amaree McKenstry and his friends.
Audible is a new coming of age documentary short from Netflix that follows high school athlete Amaree McKenstry and his friends during their senior year.
They all attend the Maryland School for the Deaf, and the documentary focuses on the deaf and hard of hearing students’ experiences in their final year of school, on the football field and off, as the kids get ready for homecoming and prepare to leave school for the wider world.
Executive produced by actor/director Peter Berg, who was also the creator of sports drama series Friday Night Lights, and deaf actor and model Nyle DiMarco, the documentary is directed by Matt Ogens, who also made the award-winning From Harlem With Love.
Audible on Netflix release date
Documentary shot Audible will be available on Netflix from Thursday 1st July.
Audible on Netflix trailer
You can get a taste of what Audible has to offer by watching the teaser – released by Netflix on 3rd June – below.
What is Audible on Netflix about?
Audible is about the experiences of a group of teenagers in their final year at the Maryland School for the Deaf.
Director Matt Ogens grew up just 30 miles from the school and filmed the documentary during 2020. He decided to focus on the school’s football team and star player Amaree McKenstry, as he explained to Variety: “I was trying to capture the teenagers’ point of view, rather than doing something observational from my point of view,” he says. “I wanted to create an immersive audio-visual experience of what it sounds and looks like to be a teenager, and all those high school touchstones – your senior year, the homecoming dance, and sports.”
Co-producer Nyle DiMarco also has a connection with Maryland School for the Deaf – he was a pupil there and his brother, Neal, is one of the assistant football coaches who appears in the film.
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Who is Amaree McKenstry?
Amaree is one of the high school seniors whom director Ogens focuses on in the documentary. A star football player, Amaree was not born deaf, but became deaf after contracting meningitis as a toddler.
The film follows the teenager as he reunites with his father – who left the family when Amaree was young – and also focuses on his relationships with cheerleader friend Jalen Whitehurst and Amaree’s on/off girlfriend Lera Walkup, and his experiences following the death of close friend Teddy.
“He’s the only deaf person in his family,” Ogens says of Amaree. “They don’t know sign language as well [as he does]. They’re dealing with socio-economic issues. His relationship with his father, his relationship with Teddy… that’s just one thing that’s they’re dealing with.”
Audible arrives on Netflix on 1st July. Check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix.
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