Despite being born and raised Cajun, award-winning filmmaker and UL master instructor Conni Castille had never heard of Usher Syndrome until biology educator Phyllis Griffith, a fellow UL faculty member at the time who has equally earned distinction in her field, brought up the idea for a documentary on the “quiet Cajuns.”
The heredity syndrome, characterized by varying degrees of both deafness and blindness in those who suffer from it, traveled with their Acadian ancestors when they were cast out from Nova Scotia — embedded in their DNA. Still, many Cajuns are unaware it exists — or that they may carry the gene.
The duo’s documentary film, The Quiet Cajuns, which recently premiered on Louisiana Public Broadcasting is meant to raise awareness, in more ways than one…