Following the success of the audio-described Tactile Tour program in 2010, Sculpture by the Sea are partnering with Accessible Arts to offer people with vision impairment and people with intellectual disability the opportunity to engage with art in a hands-on guided experience.
Accessible Arts hosted the Festivals Forum in July 2011, to review access for people with disability at festival events throughout NSW. Representatives from fifteen festivals large and small, and supporting arts organisations, gathered at the Utzon Room at Sydney Opera House to attend the three hour forum.
As part of an agreement to support festivals to develop accessibility, Accessible Arts has provided training to Sculpture by the Sea staff for the third consecutive year. Twelve staff from all sections of the organisation attended three hours of Disability Awareness and Access training to further embed accessibility practices throughout their organisation.
Festivals are increasing in popularity and continue to give expression and exposure to innovative creative arts and culture, which in turn adds greater vibrancy to communities who share in these occasions. Accessible Arts will present a forum in July, to bring festival producers together to discuss the unique challenges they face when improving access to festival events.
Nastasia Campanella is a Sydney based freelance print, radio and online journalist who also happens to be blind. She recently attended one of the audio described tactile tours presented by Sculpture by the Sea in partnership with Accessible Arts and reported on the experience.News
Accessing the 2010 Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival commenced on 2 June 2010 and continues its commitment to access for people with disability by screening a selection of films with open captions and audio description.
Q&A with director Judy Ehrlich following the screening of her Oscar nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers will be Auslan interpreted.
Open captions will be available for the following screening:
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith / USA / 93mins
Nominated for an Academy Award, this riveting documentary tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg’s transformation from US Marine and trusted Pentagon bureaucrat under Robert McNamara to anti-war campaigner. Ellsberg was instrumental in compiling reports to justify the 1964 US bombing of North Vietnam but a visit to the front lines changed his opinion. This led him to leak the 7000-page secret history of the war to The New York Times; the infamous dossier demonstrated that a succession of US presidents had deceived the US public about the conflict. The documentary leaves you to draw your own 21st century parallels.
When: Monday June 14 at 12:30 pm
Where: Event Cinema 8 George Street, Sydney
Access: Open captions, wheelchair access, hearing loop, Q&A Auslan interpreted
Audio Description will be available at the following screenings:
The Loved Ones
Sean Byrne / Australia / 84 mins
Sean Byrne fuses The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Carrie and then hacks the genre to pieces in this alternately gruesome and hilarious Aussie horror. Brent (Xavier Samuel) goes into an emotional decline after accidentally killing his father in a car crash. His gutsy girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine) is determined to pull him out of his funk, but neither of them counts on Lola (Robin McLeavy) who Brent spurned when she asked him to the school dance. Bringing new definition (along with syringes, nails and power-drills) to the phrase ‘pretty in pink’, Lola is determined to bite off as much as she can chew, and then some. Featuring an original score by Ollie Olsen (and using Kasey Chambers to teeth-grinding effect), this is torture porn as the perfect date movie.
When: Monday 7 June at 8:15 pm
Where: Event Cinema 8 George Street, Sydney
Access: Audio described, wheelchair access, hearing loop
The Waiting City
Claire McCarthy / Australia/ 104 mins
Fiona (Radha Mitchell) and Ben (Joel Edgerton) arrive in India expecting to end the long wait for their adopted child Lakshmi only to encounter bureaucratic hitches that further delay the much anticipated union. The couple react differently to the frustrating circumstances, Fiona immersing herself in work, Ben giving way to the rhythms of the city and the easy charm of an old friend (Isabel Lucas).
This screening is sold out, however there are a limited number of seats reserved for patrons utilising audio description. To book these seats call the box office and nominate your access needs to purchase reserved access seats.
When: Wednesday 9 June at 8:00 pm
Where: Event Cinema 9 George Street, Sydney
Access: Audio described, wheelchair access, hearing loop
BOOKINGS: To nominate access requirements call the box office tel: 02 9690 5390 (Open 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Mon-Fri until 1 June, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm during festival) to obtain reserved seating at accessible screenings or book online.
Detailed information on access at all venues is available at the Sydney Film Festival website.