In Vendée, a cinema offers screenings adapted to the deaf and hard of hearing

SME subtitles identify sources and integrate discreetly into the screen. In white, the dialogues placed under the character who speaks. In purple, details on the music. In red, elements on the sound effects. A technique little used in cinemas, but nevertheless adopted by thee CinéMarine in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, in Vendée, which programs screenings every Friday for deaf and hearing-impaired spectators.

“95% of films are delivered with subtitles. All you have to do is activate them when you start the projection, but few theaters use them in France for fear of putting off viewers who don’t need them. We have done the bet that no and that on the contrary, we were going to contribute to living together”, explains Yann Legargeant, co-manager of CinéMarine.

Requested by an association of deaf people, the co-manager decided to organize screenings accessible to all audiences. Since November 2020, the deaf and hard of hearing public can therefore discover films in subtitled version with hearing people. They can also choose their own film from one week to the next. Thanks to digital technology and the SME system, deaf people can now regularly visit dark rooms like everyone else. “It’s very pleasant, we have adapted subtitles, we go to see a film that we have chosen and which we like, it’s very comfortable”, explains Laurence Thibaudeau, president of Accesourds’Yonnais 85.

In the room, deaf and hearing spectators therefore watch the same film… and the subtitles do not bother anyone. In the meantime, this cinema is the only one in Vendée to offer this type of screening every week to the deaf public. Some spectators do not hesitate to travel tens of kilometers to enjoy this performance. “At last ! I can see movies with subtitles, it’s really a relief. It meets my needs and I feel totally included“, says Lilah.