Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 5
Kate Winslet Backs 14-Year-Old's Cinema Access Campaign After 140-Mile Trip
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 5

Kate Winslet Backs 14-Year-Old's Cinema Access Campaign After 140-Mile Trip

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 5

Summary

  • Kate Winslet surprised 14-year-old Eryn with a video call after learning the blind fan had made a 140-mile round trip to watch The Magic Faraway Tree with audio description.
  • Eryn, from County Fermanagh, said the three-hour journey was necessary because her family could find only one cinema offering audio-description headsets; her nearby Enniskillen cinema does not provide them.
  • Winslet, producer Dame Pippa Harris and screenwriter Simon Farnaby used the call to press for wider access, saying cinemas should offer audio-described versions so no child has to travel that far again.
  • Eryn said the Oscar winner's support could help her campaign be taken more seriously, while the British Film Institute called her case a reminder of how hard accessible screenings remain to find.

Insights

With millions in BFI funding for accessibility, why must blind cinema-goers still travel hundreds of miles for a film?
Can new AI and personal audio tech finally solve cinema's accessibility problem for good?