Inspired by a series of mysterious tuba thefts across Los Angeles high schools, O’Daniel’s visually stunning and sonically surprising film The Tuba Thieves mixes documentary, narrative, and essay filmmaking. Rather than exploring the mystery, the film, according to O’Daniel, is “about listening, but it is not tethered to the ear. It is a film about Deaf gain, hearing loss and the perception of sound in Los Angeles.” 

Through her uniquely creative use of captioning, sound, and silence, she asks viewers to consider the experiences of those who are deaf and hard of hearing. A largely deaf cast creates a collage of vignettes, including reenactments of the 1952 premiere of John Cage’s silent piece “4′33″” and the 1979 punk concert at the San Francisco Deaf Club organized by filmmaker and artist Bruce Conner.