The Best Day of My Life: Being Deaf and Gay Is Fine

English translation: Sara Gómez Herrero

A documentary film chronicles the huge world event held in Madrid in July 2017, World Pride Madrid, through the eyes of six homosexual people. According to the organization of the event, more than two million people from all over the world attended. The six protagonists of the documentary were chosen because they compose a sufficiently attractive story to maintain the attention in the film. One of these protagonists was Timo, a Deaf Frenchman.

The Best Day of My Life

The protagonists of this documentary film, entitled The Best Day of My Life, are six young people from Russia, Uganda, France and Spain who meet in Madrid for the World Pride 2017 celebration. This is the trailer (with subtitles in English):

Among these six people is Timothée-Paul Massenet, whom they call Timo. He is an athlete from Paris, Deaf from birth, who practised artistic gymnastics for 20 years, starting at a very young age, at six years old. Four years ago, Timo became a trampoline jumper. In this trailer you can see him from the second 0:32 and he is the second person in the poster above on the left.

Timo is 32 years old now, he has a fondness for writing and poetry. As a trampoline jumper, he has participated and won several international championships for Deaf people, including the European Championships in London 2016 (three gold medals) and the World Championships in Budapest 2017 (gold, silver and bronze). Here you can know him better (Spanish subtitles):

It is very clear to him that successes are as important as failures. In an interview he said:

You are interviewing me for my successes, but there have also been failures and obstacles that made me fall into a deep depression. Along the way I learned and understood many things, and over time that transit through darkness became a tool for personal growth. Since then, I continue to live in the world of sound, interacting much more with the Deaf community for communication reasons. Because, first of all, communication is fundamental.

One of the producers of the film has been Sundance TV, the same that produced the series ‘This Close’, starring two Deaf people. The director was Fernando González Molina, known for films such as the successful ‘Palm Trees in the Snow’ and ‘The Invisible Guardian’.

Timothée-Paul Massenet, Timo (photo: thebestdayofmylife.es)

Timo's Future

Although Timo studied nursing and did theatre, the experience before the camera has been positive and aroused his interest in acting. But he has many projects in mind: doctorate in linguistics, act in short films, publish a book with his poems or make a musical. All this is possible in a Deaf person, in Unusual Verse there are a lot of examples, and a person with the illusion and restlessness like Timo could also get it. Being Deaf and gay is fine, the important thing is to find someone who can intelligently take advantage of all Timo’s qualities.

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