9 April 2001
Launch of Captioned Movies in Australia
1.7 million deaf and hearing-impaired Australians to enjoy movies
Open captioned movies will officially start screening in Australia tonight at a launch that is expected to attract 400 people - including representatives of the 1.7 million deaf and hearing-impaired Australians, celebrities, politicians and representatives of the motion picture industry.
Three of the biggest cinema chains - Hoyts, Greater Union and Village - have agreed to screen regular captioned movies that will ensure deaf and hearing-impaired people can enjoy movies regularly.
LAUNCH
When: 6pm, 9 April 2001 - followed by screening of open-captioned movie at 7pm.
Where: Hoyts, Village and Greater Union Complex, 505 -525 George St, SydneyMedia representatives are invited to attend the launch. People from the deaf and hearing-impaired communities, the Commission and cinema industry will be available for interview.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski will announce the plan at a special reception at the Hoyts, Village and Greater Union complex in Sydney.
"This will throw open the cinema doors to the 1.7 million deaf or hearing-impaired Australians who will now be able to enjoy mainstream movies regularly," said Commissioner Ozdowski. "I would like to congratulate Hoyts, Village, Greater Union and the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia for developing this proposal in consultation with representatives of the deaf and hearing-impaired communities."
Open-captioned films will be made available through Australian distributors after they are captioned by US company Tripod. The three major exhibitors will show the film in one of their CBD cinemas in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for three special sessions a week - on Wednesday at 10:00 am, Friday at 6:30 pm and Sunday 3:00 pm. (Screening times might vary slightly depending on the movie). After a two-week season, the film will be made available to other cinemas operated by Village, Hoyts and Greater Union in Canberra, Hobart and Darwin and to other exhibitors.
"This is the most ambitious attempt to screen captioned new release movies in the world," Commissioner Ozdowski said. "Families and friends of deaf people and people with hearing impairments will be able to enjoy movies together. For many of them, it will be the first time." Commissioner Ozdowski said many people whose first language is not English also would benefit from the captions being available.
Open captioned movies involve "burning" the dialogue and descriptions of other sounds, such as telephones ringing, onto the print, similar to sub-titles.
The proposal from the exhibitors and distributors comes after the Commission held a public inquiry into a complaint from a deaf Perth man, who said he was not able to enjoy going to the cinema with his family.
"I am particularly pleased that the public inquiry approach developed by the Commission provides everyone with an opportunity to better understand their rights and responsibilities and work together to identify options for a solution," said Commissioner Ozdowski.
As part of the inquiry the Commission convened a forum involving representatives from the Australian Association of the Deaf, the Deafness Forum, the Deafness Council of WA, the National Working Party on Captioning, major film distributors and exhibitors, the Australian Caption Centre and the complainant.
"Although only the major three exhibitors are involved at this stage, I am confident smaller chains and independent cinemas will take advantage of the availability of captioned movies," Commissioner Ozdowski said.
Further information on the Cinema Captioning Inquiry, the Forum meetings and the proposal can be found on the Commission's web site at: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/capmovie/capmovie.html
Information on captioning is available at http://www.auscap.com.au/
General media contact: Janine MacDonald (HREOC) 0412 783 631.
For interviews: Disability
Discrimination Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski
Contact: Janine MacDonald (02) 9284 9880 or 0412 783 631
