Elena Down is yet another not impressed with Captiview – Will anyone ever listen to the deaf? Will Nova respond?

Dear Nova

I have had a Privileges Card with you for a year, and am letting you know that I am alarmed at the declining number of open captioned movies you show.

I have been a patron of Nova for decades (since my uni days). I used to watch only foreign films as these were the only films with captions.
I am an arthouse movie buff and enjoy accessing my rights to participate in culture and leisure on an equal basis with others.

I applauded Nova’s respect for equality of access and its leadership in showing films with open captions.
Indeed my recent viewing of “Jane Eyre” at your cinema with open captions (at which there were probably some 30 other people) was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I had in a long while- the film was lovely, and the captions themselves were sensitively positioned on the screen and not intrusive at all- a stunning example of good accessible cinema! Well done!

My experience of the new ‘Captiview’ device at Forrest Hill cinema complex by comparison was appalling – (like reading a book in a cinema trying to toggle between short and long perspective was a really uncomfortable experience indeed) My experience with you and open captioned films by comparison was a delight I keenly extolled on facebook!

I don’t feel that I get value from my Nova card and am not sure whether I should renew – its a ‘privilege’ to even find an English language film that has open captions now…

Can you please explain why the number of movies with open captions is falling?  In the current environment of increasing respect for human rights, I would expect that the number of accessible films will increase, not decrease!

Please, please, please show more movies with open captions, and continue to show respect to the deaf and hearing impaired community who desperately love your cinema and seeing films there. I have had (non-Deaf) friends say that they would like to come with me to open captioned films so that we can all enjoy them, and they can show their support to cinemas who ‘do the right thing’.

I would also like to hear from you what accessible films over the next 2 weeks are available – as I can’t seem to find these in the newspaper or on your website.

Thanks for your assistance and early response,

Elena Down BA LLB (Hons).