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Media ArticleCaptioned films in local cinemas welcome newsJoint Media Release - 25 June 2008Deaf Australia is delighted with today’s announcement by the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, that funding will be made available to assist 12 cinemas across the nation to screen films that are captioned and have audio description.People who are Deaf or hard of hearing rely on captions to access mainstream films. Currently only 10 cinemas screen captioned films, which means millions of people are not able to enjoy going to the movies, something that most people take for granted. Today’s announcement will help change that. "Deaf Australia is very excited about this initiative and congratulates the Minister on such a positive contribution to improving access. It will mean many more Deaf people are able to enjoy going to the movies at their local cinema with their family and friends," said Deaf Australia President Kyle Miers. The current access at 10 cinemas is the result of an agreement negotiated by HREOC in 2001 between the three major exhibitors Hoyts, Greater Union and Village and community organisations, and all but two of these 10 cinemas are in the capital cities. The funding announced today will be made available to independent cinemas, which should greatly improve the spread of accessible cinemas and make captioned films available outside the capital cities. "Not everyone lives in a capital city. It will be great to see Deaf and hard of hearing people in the regions having access to the movies. Hopefully it will also mean we should at last get to see captioned Australian films," Miers said. Deaf Australia has been lobbying for many years for improvements in access to captioned films in cinemas, and was a party to the HREOC agreement with the three major exhibitors. "This is a great step forward for our campaign. However, we want to see all cinemas providing access and we will continue to work towards that goal," Miers said.
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