ASHFIELD — Opening night of the 16th annual Ashfield Film Festival brought Oscar-winning filmmaker Darius Marder home for a screening of his film, “Sound of Metal.”

“Sound of Metal,” a 2019 film starring Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci, follows a heavy metal drummer as he begins to lose his hearing and is forced to confront a future of silence, turning his life upside down. The movie won two Oscars, one for Best Sound and the other for Best Film Editing.

Director Darius Marder, who grew up in Conway, engaged in a question-and-answer session at Ashfield Town Hall following the screening of “Sound of Metal” on Friday. The movie was a passion project for Marder as it took 12 years to finance and then film.

“The film fell apart many times,” he recalled.

Although he said he had opportunities to work with large financiers and big-name actors, it didn’t feel right. The project took six years to cast, and Marder eventually convinced a friend to finance the project without any creative strings attached.

He added that filming took about 26 days and sound design took about 26 weeks. The film changed over time.

“That’s the thing I love about filmmaking: it’s alive,” Marder said.

“Sound of Metal” originally began as a documentary following a real couple in a metal band, Marder said. But that documentary never came to fruition, and Marder decided to take elements of it and turn it into a fictional rom-com.

The film was written by Marder and his brother, Abraham, and was loosely inspired by their own experience with the deaf community after their grandmother became deaf in her 60s. The film switches from hearing to deaf points of view, allowing the audience to experience losing hearing as the film’s main character did.

“The movie is very distinctly the five stages of grief and that last stage is acceptance,” Marder said.

“Sound of Metal” is a prospective film, Marder continued. He wanted the audience to experience the world as Ruben (Riz Ahmed) did, so the film begins with captions, and as Ruben loses his hearing, the audience loses the captions. Captions ultimately return as Ruben learns American Sign Language so he can communicate again.

“I knew I would never release this film without open captions,” Marder said.

The Ashfield Film Festival continued on Saturday by screening short films submitted by community members. The winners are as follows:

■Best Documentary — “Home” by Clara Delacruz.

■Best Natural World — “A Year on the Dam” by Sarah Welch and the Hilltown Land Trust.

■Best Music Video — “I Was a Fool” by Brendan Leowolf.

■Best Animation — “The Valley” by Peter J. Moser.

■Best Original Concept — “Waiting for Sea Serpents” by Ben Tobin.

■Best Local Humor — “Play It Again Sam” by Stewart “Buz” Eisenberg and Mary Patierno.

■Grand Prize — “Deep Sea” by Cole Whitaker.

■Audience Choice Award — “Deep Sea” by Cole Whitaker.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.