Deafness is a sensory impairment, but if you are deaf – or Deaf – it is also central to your membership of a strong community with its own institutions and, crucially, language.

The tension between those two perceptions played an important role in Life and Deaf (4 July), a rather crassly titled documentary about a group of four friends associated with St John’s Deaf Club in north London.

Memnos Costi and his brother Marios were obsessed with football, managing and playing in the club’s successful team, seen here competing in the Deaf Cup. Meanwhile, Marios’ wife Tina was heavily pregnant, while her friend Abigail was pondering a cochlear implant.

The film had a distinctive sound world of its own, with no commentary or background music. For long sequences, when people were chatting in sign, there was almost no sound at all. The four characters were good company. With deaf parents and other relations, they only rarely interacted with the hearing world.