El-Sayed, a Bedouin village nestled in the scenic landscape of the Negev Desert, is home to the largest community of deaf people in the world. Here deafness is seen not as a disability but as a natural part of life.  The hearing and the deaf coexist easily in this remote society, but when one father, Salim, decides to get a cochlear implant for his son Muhammad, members of the tightly knit community have distinct, strong opinions.  For Muhammad, the road to hearing is long, painful, and garbled.  His journey is further complicated by the fact El-Sayed lies outside of Israel’s electric infrastructure, making it nearly possible for his parents to main the implant’s functionality.  With appropriately creative uses of sound, Voices from El-Sayed brings this unique community to life in such a way that we understand how the gift of hearing may feel like the loss of community and identity.  SB