In the heart of Beijing, a quiet revolution is unfolding in China’s film industry. This groundbreaking transformation is happening at the Guangming Cinema, where the visually impaired are being given the opportunity to experience the magic of storytelling through film, thanks to pioneering digital methods.
Welcoming a group of young opinion leaders from 15 different countries, the Guangming Cinema set the stage for an extraordinary movie experience. These visitors were to “watch” a movie blindfolded, enabling them to understand what the cinematic experience is like for those with visual impairments. As the film unfolded, a narrator described the scenes, moves, and visual effects, allowing these leaders to fully immerse themselves in the narrative.
The film, called Ne Zha, is a barrier-free or voice-descriptive movie, part of an initiative undertaken by volunteers at the Guangming Cinema. This initiative aims to ensure equal cinema-going rights for the visually impaired. Established in 2017, the Guangming Cinema Audio-descriptive Movie Making and Promotion Project is a public welfare initiative by the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing. Its goal is to create and distribute audio-descriptive products to cater to the cultural needs of the visually impaired.
Despite there being over 17 million visually impaired people in China, the Guangming Cinema Project has successfully provided these individuals with a wide array of inclusive and culturally relevant movies. So far, the project has produced 520 barrier-free films and two barrier-free television series, reaching over two million people across the country.
Creating these barrier-free films involves a meticulous and time-consuming process, carried out by a devoted group of volunteers. These include professors, undergraduate and postgraduate students from CUC, who spend much of their free time involved in various activities related to the project.
From writing narration scripts and reviewing them multiple times, to dubbing the scripts in the recording room, and finally editing and encoding the films, the process is comprehensive and intricate. It often takes two to three months to narrate and dub a film that runs for 90 to 120 minutes. The dedication and commitment of the volunteers have left a deep impression on the international youth leaders.
To make these films accessible to as many visually impaired people as possible, the project team has integrated the barrier-free movies into mobile hard disk drives and USB drives. They have also stored the films in audio recorders with memory cards, enabling individuals to listen to these films anytime, anywhere.
Since the Marrakesh Treaty came into effect in China in May 2022, the Guangming Cinema has initiated many public welfare activities for the visually impaired. The treaty allows authorized entities to create cultural works for disabled individuals without needing the approval of copyright holders. This has expanded China’s human rights protection for print-disabled people, providing them with equal access to culture and education.
As the Guangming Cinema continues to break barriers, it serves as a shining example of China’s efforts to build an inclusive society, providing equal cultural access for all. It stands as an emblem of digital empowerment for the visually impaired, an initiative that other nations can certainly learn from and be inspired by.
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