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Country Arts SA
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News and Media Centre
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Getting the whole picture at the Whyalla Cinema
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Getting the whole picture at the Whyalla Cinema
1st June 2009
Eyre Peninsula
Whyalla residents with a hearing or vision impairment will now be able to enjoy the latest films, such as Night at the Museum 2 and Star Trek, thanks to the ‘accessible cinema’ initiative at Country Arts SA’s Whyalla Cinema thanks to a new partnership with Media Access Australia (MAA) and the Independent Cinemas Association, funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Ageing.
Nearly 4 million Australians have hearing or vision impairments, and this number is growing as our population ages. Until now, many Australians have been unable to fully participate in the important social ritual of going to the movies.
The Whyalla Cinema is one of 12 independent cinema’s nationally that have been assisted to offer captions and audio description services on a regular basis.
Captions are an English-language text version of the movie soundtrack, which includes speech and other important sounds. This is seen by all audience members during captioned screenings. Audio description is where important visual information is presented in an audio format, so that people can listen to it whilst the movie is playing. The audio description soundtrack is only available via headphones and is not heard by other audience members.
The ‘accessible cinema’ initiative aims to double current cinema access levels across the nation for those Australians who are hearing impaired seniors, and it will mark the first time seniors with a vision impairment will be able to fully experience cinema on a regular basis.
Country Arts SA’s Chief Executive Officer Ken Lloyd said "We are delighted to be part of this important initiative to enable Whyalla residents with hearing or vision impairments the opportunity to experience the movies, an experience so many other Australians take for granted.”
“This is a major step forward in making entertainment accessible for all Australians. The Australian Government is leading by example in transforming its social inclusion policy into real-life action," said Alex Varley, Chief Executive Officer of MAA.
Captioned movies will be advertised with OC next to the movie name and audio described movies will be advertised with AD. Dependant upon films being available with these features the Whyalla Cinema will screen captioned and audio described movies twice a week on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons.
A new accessible website, www.yourlocalcinema.com.au has been launched to provide up-to-date screening schedules for consumers.
Background paper: www.yourlocalcinema.com.au/docs/Accessible_cinema_backgrounder.doc
Media Access Australia profile: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com.au/docs/media_access_australia_profile.doc
Media Access Australia website:
www.mediaaccess.org.au
Media enquiries:
Kylie Kerrigan, Corporate Affairs Manager, Country Arts SA
Phone: 08 8444 0406
email: kylie.kerrigan@countryarts.org.au
Belinda Kerslake, Marketing Communications Manager
Phone: 02 92126242 Mobile: 0414 804 368
Email: belinda.kerslake@mediaaccess.org.au
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