L'Etoile Cosmos is a small arthouse cinema located in Chelles, Seine-et-Marne. Since March, the institution has been setting up sessions accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing.
Activist for access to cinema for all, Dorothy Malherbe is also director of the Etoile Cosmos since the end of 2013. "It was a desire for a long time, because it is important to me that everyone can have access to culture regardless of their disability or the language they speak. " she says. The small cinema, composed of two screens, wants to be able to reach the largest number of users. Especially since in Chelles, many spectators are elderly people with hearing problems.
A rare process
If the initiative is talking, it is because access to movie theaters for deaf and hard of hearing people is rather rare. Fortunately, the digital transformation of cinema is creating new opportunities for people with sensory disabilities. To adapt the cinematographic work, we will compensate for the deficient meaning with another meaning. For the deaf and hard of hearing, sight is mobilized to compensate for hearing. In the case of the Etoile Cosmos cinema, this is set up thanks to a special subtitling way, called Ocap, which consists of transcribing in writing the words spoken in the film but also giving descriptions of the sound environment (noises, sound environment).
Every week, the Etoile Cosmos broadcasts a film in Ocap format. For the moment, it is not possible to program more, because the process is not yet really used in the world of cinema.
Varied solutions
There are also many ways to make the 7th art accessible to people with hearing problems. In the case of the Ocap version, the subtitles are displayed directly on the projection screen. There is also a process called CCAP (Closed Caption), for which subtitles are displayed on devices delivered to hearing-impaired people at the entrance of the room (personal screen, liquid crystal glasses, smartphone…). Other solutions can also be implemented, for the hearing impaired only, such as sound amplification, by magnetic loop or induction, which allows people wearing hearing aids to capture the sound of the film in an amplified way directly in their hearing aid. For this, two solutions: either the cinema must be equipped with an integrated electrical wire, or the establishment must have individual "neckband" loops. There is also transmission via a headset loaned at the beginning of the session. The user can then choose between the audio-described version of the film or its amplified version.
At the cinema of Chelles, the initiative pleases and already has its audience. The director, happy with this success, would like to develop her project for visually impaired people. For this purpose, one of the rooms of the Cosmos will be equipped with the audio description system. The device should be installed as early as 2019.
