ZAMEK Culture Centre

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Moderated by Anna Jankowska (University of Antwerp)
Guests:
Barbora Andor Tothova (CINEFIL/ Kino Úsmev) 
Federico Spoletti (INCinema) 
Bartek Lis (City Culture Institute in Gdańsk) 

Over the past few years, we have learned much about accessible cinema and the people who take advantage of accessible services. Research has helped us understand how audio description and other solutions shape the way films are received, understood and experienced. It has also raised some apparently simple but important questions. What does “objectivity” in audio description actually mean to audiences, and are phrases like “a beautiful dress” or “a handsome dark-haired man” always a subjective interpretation?

At the same time, accessibility is evolving fast in practice. Practitioners make everyday decisions that directly affect audience experience, yet the venue to talk about such decisions, share doubts, or learn from one another is lacking. Much of this practical knowledge stays informal, even within practitioner communities.

Why does this matter now? Because accessibility is no longer a niche add-on, it is becoming part of mainstream cinema culture, and the way we define and practice it today will shape what comes next.

This panel sets out with the simple idea that knowledge about accessibility is something we co-create. Researchers, practitioners, and users all contribute different expertise, and all of it counts. Rather than offering ready-made answers, the panel invites open conversation. Let us discover how we can learn from each other better, work together more closely, and build more inclusive forms of accessible cinema and accessible knowledge.

Natalia Centkova (CINEFIL/ Kino Úsmev) 
Caring Cinema is a Europe-wide initiative developed to secure the right to access culture for historically marginalised people through practical implementation, not just policy. It is the first European platform dedicated to accessibility of cinemas, offering guides, best practices, research results and innovative training for cinema operators,. The initiative aims to unite cinemas that care to create bottom-up pressure on national governments, driving the systemic change needed to align film production, distribution, and presentation with European and international human rights legislation.

Caring Cinema is a Europe-wide initiative developed to secure the right to access culture for historically marginalised people through practical implementation, not just policy. It is the first European platform dedicated to accessibility of cinemas, offering guides, best practices, research results and innovative training for cinema operators,. The initiative aims to unite cinemas that care to create bottom-up pressure on national governments, driving the systemic change needed to align film production, distribution, and presentation with European and international human rights legislation.

Graphic. On a grey background, right in the centre, there is a photograph showing four persons who are sitting at a table during a workshop. They are discussing something. Each persons is wearing a Forum badge on a lanyard. Above the photograph is the logo of Forum Without Barriers and a caption which reads: Presentations + Conversation. Below is the title of the event: Cooperation as a Tool of Accessibility.