The Australian, Edition 1 MON 09 APR 2001, Page 005

Captions a thrilling subplot for deaf moviegoers

By: Sophie Tedmanson, Vanessa Walker

FROM today, for the first time in Australia, cinemas in most capital cities will screen special sessions of the latest movies with captions for deaf and hearing-impaired patrons.

Trial runs of subtitled English-language movies were held in Melbourne and Sydney last year after John Byrne, an avid moviegoer and a representative of the Deafness Council of Western Australia, wrote to the major cinemas and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission asking for more accessibility for deaf people. Dr Byrne is profoundly deaf and one of 1.7 million hearing-impaired Australians (including the Prime Minister) who, until now, could only watch foreign films at the cinemas because the rest don't have subtitles.

When Dr Byrne wanted to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster at the cinema, one of his four daughters would go with him armed with a small torch and a notebook and write out the script as it was played on the big screen.

According to Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia chairman Alan Finney, theatres will consider showing captioned English-language movies in capital cities and rural areas. ``It's very important because ... it means the films will be seen by a wider audience and by people who obviously were not getting full satisfaction,' he said.

Kate Nelson, 30, an actor with the Australian Theatre of the Deaf, said captioned movies would expand her repertoire from subtitled arthouse and foreign films to blockbusters. Through her interpreter, Andy Carmichael, she said that if she wanted to see a mainstream film she had to pay to see the same movie three or four times in order to piece the storyline together.

``Now I will be able to go to the movies with my (hearing) friends and discuss it straight afterwards,' she said.

The captions are burned into the film print by Tripod, a Californian company that supplies the films to Australian distributor Twentieth Century Fox after they have finished showing in America. Captions are unable to be added in Australia because the burning machines cost $800,000 and there is not enough demand for the service.

Disability Discrimination Commissioner Sev Ozdowski said the move to captioned movies was also important for people from non-English-speaking backgrounds who may not be able to keep up with rapid dialogue in English-language films.

Dr Byrne has been profoundly deaf since he was 11 (he's now in his 50s) and attends the movies every week. ``Going to the cinema is an important part of everybody's social activities ... having a beer with friends or a coffee with the family, then going to watch a movie,' he said. ``We will go more often now -- Friday night at the movies, we'll be part of that.'