Watch: Heartfelt Short ‘Healing Hands’ About a Boy Losing His Hearing

by Alex Billington
May 28, 2026
Source: YouTube

“I wanted to make you and Mommy happy with me!” Omeleto has debuted a lovely little short film called Healing Hands, made by filmmaker Jordan Ochel, and it’s worth a watch. After playing at film festivals over the last year, it’s now available online for everyone to enjoy. Healing Hands is a 14-minute short film about a deaf boy longing for acceptance who finds himself in a situation that will change his understanding of what it means to be “complete.” This tender, empathetic story is a portrait of a little boy coming to terms with himself. “Told with a luminous, composed visual naturalism, it has a sure-handed focus and sensitivity in how the storytelling immerses us in Jonah’s world and subjectivity, and a respect for how he & his family approach Jonah’s journey from denial to acceptance.” Starring Alexander Campos III as Jonah. The story is based on the writer / director’s own personal experiences growing up. There have been a bunch of superb films about Deafness recently, better to see more because many people still need to learn. Along with Oscar winner CODA, I’m also a fan of Sound of Metal and recent doc Deaf President Now. Watch the short below.

Thanks to Jordan for the tip on his short debuting online. Original intro via YouTube: “Jonah is a young boy who uses hearing aids to improve his hearing. But the aids are not working as well, and the loss of hearing is affecting his schooling. His teacher recommends that he should learn sign language. But his parents still have hopes of healing him completely. They take him to a church to be healed by faith. Jordan wants to believe as much as his parents. But as he goes through the healing, he discovers his understanding of what it means to be ‘complete’ has changed.” Healing Hands is a short film written and directed by indie filmmaker Jordan Ochel as his Baylor University graduate thesis short film. The goal with this project is to change hearts and minds in a way that erases stereotypes about d/Deafness. It was partially funded with support on Indiegogo. Produced by Rachel Jobin, Andy Racoti, and Jordan Ochel. Featuring cinematography by Davin Fitch, and original music composed by Adrian Walther. For more info on the project, visit the film’s official site or head to its YouTube page. To discover many more unique short films, click here. What did you think?

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