Everyone knows Santa Claus is real and there’s only one of him. And everyone knows too that he has many, many helpers to bring the joy of the season to children of all ages. However, not everyone knows that there is one, and only one, real Deaf Santa Claus.
His name is Charles Graves, and when he’s not dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, with his droll little mouth drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin as white as the snow, he lives in New Braunfels with his wife and their family. His life story is told in Deaf Santa Claus, the Austin-made documentary premiering this weekend at Austin Film Festival. However, co-director Anthony Mowl first met Graves when he was in full seasonal attire.
When Mowl was growing up, his parents would always take him to visit the mall Santa and get what he called “the obligatory photo.” Now he’s got a daughter of his own, and every year he takes her to get her own photo. When she was 3, she met Santa at the Barton Creek Mall, but it wasn’t just any Santa, or any photo. Mowl, who is deaf, was attending an event there hosted by the Texas School for the Deaf. He recalled, “Charles happened to be the man in the chair, and he took my heart away, and he took my daughter’s heart away.”
Take a minute to think what this means. Mowl is fourth-generation deaf. His daughter is fifth-generation deaf. In all those years, in all those photos, Graves was the first Santa who was like them. Sitting in the lap of Deaf Santa is like looking up and seeing a Black Santa or hearing a Spanish-speaking Santa: for that deaf kid, or that Black kid, or that kid that only speaks Spanish, it brings them even closer to the magic.
Mowl was instantly fascinated by Graves, and a mutual friend connected them. Mowl explained how much that moment meant to him, and how he saw that Graves could be doing so much more. “I wanted to ensure that more children can share this experience.” With Graves in agreement, he reached out via another mutual friend, John Maucere, to Los Angeles-based documentarian Ben Shelton, in hopes that he could help show more than just the man in the red suit, but Graves’ whole life. “He’s not just the man in the chair,” Mowl said. “There’s a story there, and Ben helped create that story.”
“He had a twinkle in his eye, he had charisma, he had compassion and poise and grace.” – Co-Director Ben Shelton
This became the beginning of a yearlong odyssey as Charles goes from being a man who volunteers his time through his efforts to become a Santa, which is a whole world unto itself. It’s Santa School, it’s accreditation, it’s insurance, it’s travel, it’s hiring elves, it’s finding Mrs. Claus, it’s getting a suit worthy of Kris Kringle himself and learning how to curl your mustache, and laugh from deep in that merry big belly. Shelton said, “If we were telling a story about anyone becoming Santa, there would still be a long to-do list of things that you need to get ready, starting as early as the spring and the summer to be booking these jobs and becoming a Santa Claus for the holiday season.”
All those hurdles were just a little bit higher for Graves. It wasn’t just the cost of attending Santa School but also paying for interpreters. It’s not just booking gigs but finding clients who are open to having a deaf Santa. Mowl said, “It’s a hard swallow for any event organizer to say, ‘I budgeted this much for Santa, but now I have to triple that,’ and it’s an easy thing to say ‘no’ to.” However, when they do take that leap, they get Santa Claus. Mowl said, “I’ve seen Charlies meet hundreds of kids, and it’s not just deaf kids. It’s hearing brothers and sisters, or it’s all-hearing families who have never met a deaf Santa before. And it’s never, ‘Oh, this guy’s deaf, he can’t be the real Santa.’ I’ve never seen that happen. It’s always just, ‘Oh, Santa’s there and he’s lost his hearing,’ or ‘Wow, Santa talks with his hands!’”
Moreover, Mowl has seen how much Graves interacting with their deaf kids affects the parents, whether deaf or hearing. “It’s one of two things. They’re either smiling wider than their children or they’re crying because they’ve never seen their child like this before.”
Through all his trial and tribulations, Graves remains a connection to the true meaning of Christmas through his dedication to bringing smiles to kids. For Shelton, the film is an opportunity for all audiences, whether deaf or hearing, to spend time with Graves, and experience the joy he has brought them. “He makes everything bigger and more important and more beautiful and wonderful and kind than you ever expect it to be.”
To find out more about inviting Deaf Santa Claus to your event, visit deafsantaclaus.com.
Deaf Santa Claus
D: Ben Shelton and Anthony Mowl
USA, 109 min, World Premiere
Wed, Oct. 30, 8:30pm, Highland Galaxy
Follow all the Chronicle’s 2024 Austin Film Festival coverage.
This article appears in October 25 • 2024.
