"This was a great movie-watching experience. Before, watching a movie was a luxury dream because I couldn't see, but now with the help of narration, I can 'watch' and understand it." On the morning of December 20, the "Bright Cinema" charity screening event of the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) was held. Over 50 people, including visually impaired individuals, people with disabilities, and their families, including Han Jinwen, watched the film Lighting Up the Stars together. The moment he walked out of the cinema, Han Jinwen felt both excited and warmed.
As the lights in the theater dimmed, the opening narration of the film began even before the images appeared. Character actions, establishing shots, and scene transitions were all translated into words by the narrator, building a "tactile path" into the world of light and shadow... The film screened this time was Lighting Up the Stars, which tells a heartwarming story of mutual redemption and shared growth between a mortician and a little girl who has just lost a beloved family member, composing a soul-stirring song of love and warmth.
Let my voice become your eyes. Accompanied by the narrator's vivid explanations, the funny moments and touching scenes in the film were "staged" one by one in the minds of visually impaired friends.
"Thank you to the organizers for giving us the opportunity to fully experience the charm of cinematic art," Han Jinwen said. He experienced almost no obstacles throughout the entire film, and through the narration, he was fully drawn into the storyline.
Watching a movie is an ordinary matter for many people, but for 36-year-old Han Jinwen, it is more of a luxury. He likes to scroll through short videos and "watch" movies, but he rarely has the opportunity to come to a cinema to "watch" a movie, because ordinary viewing methods lack detailed narration; he can only roughly understand the story by listening, which is sometimes unsatisfying. "Today, not only did I 'watch' a movie, but I also communicated with visually impaired friends. This is a rare occasion. I hope Sanya can have a cinema for visually impaired friends to watch movies, so that those who love movies can watch more of them."
For 45-year-old Li Huanyi, being disconnected from movies for over 20 years has left him with a slight sense of regret. "An illness in 2000 caused my visual impairment, and I haven't been to a cinema since. Being able to 'watch' a movie again in this format is truly a very happy thing," Li Huanyi said. Because he cannot see, life has been very inconvenient over the past 20 years, but fortunately, he has had the care and help of the government and people around him. Being invited to the cinema to watch a movie this time made him feel deeply warmed, and it also showed him that so many people in society still care about this special group.
"I watched movies in the school auditorium when I was in elementary school, and I have always missed that feeling over the years. Being able to come into the cinema this time feels like reliving my childhood memories," He Liang said. He also enjoyed "special" treatment this time watching the movie, with staff providing transportation, and the opportunity to communicate with visually impaired friends and share their viewing experiences. "I hope Sanya will have more activities like this, so that we people with disabilities can experience more colors of life," He Liang said.
A barrier-free film screening conveys the warmth of social civilization and warms the hearts of people with disabilities. Since "settling" at the Hainan Island International Film Festival, "Bright Cinema" has brought numerous works to visually impaired individuals: in 2019, the "Bright Cinema" project won the "HIIFF Charity Award" and established a regular presence in Sanya through charity screenings; from 2020 to 2022, HIIFF successively screened "Bright Cinema" poverty-alleviation themed films such as Red Lily Blooms and Returning Home with Youth, conveying the voice of the times to friends with disabilities; in 2023, the "Bright Cinema" project carefully prepared the latest high-quality barrier-free film, Lighting Up the Stars, for the 5th HIIFF. In the future, "Bright Cinema" will continue to contribute to building a disability-friendly society.
"Over the past few years, Bright Cinema has never been absent from HIIFF, continuously bringing more, newer, and better barrier-free film and television works,助力ing the normalized development of barrier-free film screenings, and providing increasingly more public cultural services for the people," introduced Hu Fang, Deputy Director of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication at the Communication University of China. With Chinese university students as the main participants and through the joint efforts of multiple parties, "Bright Cinema" has paved a "cultural tactile path" with unique Chinese characteristics for visually impaired friends, exploring new models of barrier-free information dissemination and human rights protection. The student and faculty volunteers of "Bright Cinema" produce 104 barrier-free films annually, which means that over the 52 weeks in a year, visually impaired individuals can enjoy 2 barrier-free films every week. The project team has persisted for six years, with over 800 student and faculty volunteers participating, producing nearly 600 barrier-free films and 2 barrier-free TV series, Old Tavern and Daughter of the Mountain, and promoting them nationwide, achieving full coverage of 2,244 special education schools across the country. In 2022, the "Bright Cinema" charity on-demand zone was launched on China Broadnet, covering over 200 million households.
Hu Fang revealed that they will continue to carry out in-depth cooperation with HIIFF, strive to build a new platform for public services, and make every effort to create a new highland for charity cultural communication research based on the Barrier-Free Information Communication Research Institute of the Communication University of China.
"Such activities are very meaningful and warm. They not only build a platform for the visually impaired group to enter the world of light and shadow, but also attract caring individuals to actively participate, creating an opportunity for people with disabilities and able-bodied people to see each other, understand, and integrate, which reflects the 'warmth' of Sanya," introduced Li Haihong, Level-4 Inspector of the Sanya Municipal Disabled Persons' Federation. He noted that in recent years, Sanya has continuously improved its social security system and care service system for people with disabilities. The Municipal Disabled Persons' Federation has taken the lead in conducting a citywide survey of the barrier-free environment, assessing the barrier-free construction of public facilities, tourist attractions, public transportation facilities, and residential areas, striving to set a benchmark for barrier-free environment construction in the Hainan Free Trade Port.
Source: Sanya Convergence Media Reporter Zhang Huibin
Editor: Lin Qi
