Chinese audience watching a 3D movie (Photo : Reuters)
In China, the blind can go "see" a movie.
Eighty-year-old Wang Xiuting, who was once an avid moviegoer before she became visually impaired, can now go see a movie again after the first Chinese cinema for the blind was opened in Beijing.
Like Wang Xiuting, people who have eyesight problems can now enjoy free movies in the Xinmu Cinema, a courtyard screening room at the Xicheng District in Beijing, every Saturday.
Wang Xiuting, who is accompanied by her brother when going to the screening, said that the weekly gathering made her feel that she was included in the society. Wang lost her sight 20 years ago due to an accident. After what happened, Wang faced depression and avoided going out because she felt excluded from the society.
She became more depressed after her husband's passing a few years later.
When Wang Xiuting learned about the Xinmu Cinema, she traveled to Beijing to see a movie and enjoyed it a lot. Ever since then, she kept coming back and even rekindled her love for Peking Opera music.
With its interactive and sensory landscape, the cinema has offered a new way to engage blind movie fans.
Built in 2005 by Founder Wang Weili of the Beijing Hongdandan Cultural Exchange Center, the 30-square-meter cinema was established for the blind to understand the society through the films they watch.
To get a better feel of what a visually impaired person experiences, Wang Weili blindfolds himself when shooting a movie. The movie commentator and cinematographer said that it is a way of making the blind people experience the "real warmth than cold commentary."
He added: "What they need is not simply a courtesy service but rather a soulful experience in communication."
