This month, we hosted a roundtable for Scalarama Glasgow to discuss how organisations, independent exhibitors and programmers can ensure their events, both online and IRL, are accessible to disabled audiences. We invited Alison Smith (Pesky People), Charlotte Little (Film journalist for Flip Screen and UK Film Review) and Andrew Miller (UK Government Disability Champion Arts & Culture and Chair of BFI’s Disability Screen Advisory Forum). Our guests spoke about how organisations can sincerely build in accessability for D/deaf and disabled audiences throughout their events and the ways in which the COVID19 pandemic has exacerbated inaccessability.
“You know, that whole fear of missing out? Well, we’re getting it in spades.” Alison Smith, on disabled audiences and online activities.
The sessions highlighted that the pandemic possess a real threat to the progress made in the UK in regards to disablity access to arts and disabled representation. Including serious issues with the UK Cinema Assocations re-opening guidelines, considerations to be taken for audiences who find communcation with mask-wearers difficult and some handy tips on how to bake-in accessible provisons from the planning stages onwards.
You can watch the entire roundtable here (embedded above, with subtitles), read the transcript here or browse the minutes here.
Scalarama Glasgow’s monthly roundtables continue online (for now). Follow Scalarama Glasgow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date.
The next monthly roundtable, focussing the independent exhibitor’s timeline for returning to events, will be on Sunday 9th August, on Zoom. Details via the Facebook page, here.
Scalarama in Scotland is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and Lottery funding from the BFI.
Matchbox Cine 