National Cinema Day event to offer at least one subtitled screening at every major cinema

The UK Cinema Association (UKCA) has announced National Cinema Day will take place this Saturday, with Empire, ODEON, Vue and Cineworld all committing to subtitles at every one of their venues.

The promotion sees all tickets priced at £3 all day, including subtitled screenings.

Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UKCA, told The Limping Chicken: “Discussions with members continue, but the major operators – ODEON, Vue, Cineworld, Empire – have ensured that there is at least one subtitled screening at all of their sites on National Cinema Day, and some will offer more than that.

“Take-up of those subtitled screenings that are being made available on National Cinema Day is currently still very low. One company reports 207 bookings across 26 screenings at 16 sites.

“We recognise that many deaf and hearing impaired customers may have assumed there would be few subtitled screenings but would encourage everyone to have a look.

“Hopefully customers will see the number of subtitled screenings on the day as a small step forward from what’s gone before.“

However, the National Deaf Children’s Society have said some cinemas putting on subtitled screenings on Saturday is “good”, but “nothing more than a drop in the ocean”.

Beccy Forrow, deputy director of campaigning and advocacy, said: “Deaf cinemagoers should be able to watch a subtitled screening of any film they choose, whenever is convenient for them, not just on ‘special’ days of the year.

“We need to see a substantial, permanent increase in subtitled screenings before we consider this as progress.”

Teri Devine, associate director for inclusion at the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID), added the charity doesn’t think they’ve done enough to include deaf people and those with hearing loss.

“More needs to be done to enable deaf people and people with hearing loss to enjoy and experience cinema on the same level as their hearing peers. Cinemas must make more effort to promote subtitled screenings to deaf cinema goers and provide subtitled films at times which suit everyone.

“More subtitled screenings on Saturday are a positive step, as subtitled films are often shown during the week at unsociable times, but better access needs to be provided every day, not just one day of the year.”

Ms Devine also described the move as an “improvement” from the UK Cinema Association’s Deaf Awareness Week promotion, where the number of subtitled screenings increased for one week only.

More information on National Cinema Day can be found on its official website, with details of subtitled screenings available on Accessible Screenings UK.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.