FRED Film Radio - English Channel

PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Martin Zwischenberger, University of Teacher Education.

Martin Zwischenberger is a radio host but also an expert in live audio sport commentaries. Arsad 2017 won’t be his first time at the conference as he already had the opportunity of attending ARSAD’s workshops and panels in 2015. “It’s a very good place to learn a lot and get in touch with so many enthusiastic people workng on accessibility”: these are the words Martin uses to talk about ARSAD as it is an added value for the ones who constantly work to guarantee people with visual impairments an inclusive way of enjoying arts.

Since its beginning in 2007, the international seminar on audio description ARSAD has been a meeting point for all key agents interested in both research and practice in audio description. Its sixth edition, to be held in Barcelona on March 16th (all day) and 17th (morning) 2017, aims to take stock of recent advances while looking at the future of the field. ARSAD 2017 would like to engage practitioners, researchers, trainers, trainees, regulators, broadcasters, users, social activists, cultural managers, and anyone interested in audio description in a fruitful discussion on the past, present and future of audio description. In this edition TransMedia Catalonia (2014SGR027) teams up with the international project ACT (Accesible Culture and Training) to approach audio description from a myriad of perspectives

To follow the program click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Agnieszka Walczak, PhD candidate at the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Agnieszka Walczak is a PhD candidate at the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and within the framework of the European project Hybrid Broadcast Broadband for All, she focuses on the quality of audio description. At ARSAD 2017 she will talk about her research into the reception of audio description and introduce her presentation “Presence as a tool for measuring the effectiveness of audio description”.

Early research into the reception of audio description (AD) focused on user comprehension (Chmiel & Mazur, 2012; Romero-Fresco & Fryer, 2013; Walczak & Rubaj, 2014) rather than the quality of experience of AD audiences. Several studies have explored the emotional impact that AD may exert on its users (Ramos Caro & Rojo López, 2014; Ramos, 2015). However, people do not watch films only to listen to the AD. It is rather ‘a secondary means of mediation’ (Fryer & Freeman, 2013) that allows access to the visual component that otherwise would be missed. What allows to assess the entire experience of the AD audiences, instead of focusing solely on the descriptive element, are presence measures. Defined as ‘the suspension of disbelief’ (Slater & Usoh, 1993) or as ‘a user’s subjective sensation of being there’ (Barfield et al., 1995), presence is the illusion of being located somewhere other than the physical environment. It is an experiential quality metric employed to evaluate broadcast and virtual environment media systems (Lessiter et al., 2001). Its effectiveness for gauging the reactions of blind and visually impaired audiences to audiovisual stimuli has already been shown in various works (e.g. Fryer & Freeman, 2013; Walczak & Fryer, 2016). This paper aims to present the results of the recent research investigating different scenarios for content and vocal delivery of AD. It was carried out with blind and visually impaired audiences in Poland. They were asked to report their emotional response to the stimuli presented and their reactions were assessed using presence questionnaires.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Floriane Bardini, Ph Student – University of Vic.

A very important part of this year’s edition of ARSAD – Advanced Research Seminar on Audio Description will focus on reception studies. A whole panel is indeed dedicated to “Reception Research”. Floriane Bardini, translator and doctoral researcher, Ph student at the University of Vic, will present her research entitled Audio description style and film experience: a reception study . The project is a reception study with blind users and users with visual impairment to test different audio description styles. The objective is to determine the best way to deal with cinematic language in audio description in order to provide a better service.

Since its beginning in 2007, the international seminar on audio description ARSAD has been a meeting point for all key agents interested in both research and practice in audio description. Its sixth edition, to be held in Barcelona on March 16th (all day) and 17th (morning) 2017, aims to take stock of recent advances while looking at the future of the field. ARSAD 2017 would like to engage practitioners, researchers, trainers, trainees, regulators, broadcasters, users, social activists, cultural managers, and anyone interested in audio description in a fruitful discussion on the past, present and future of audio description. In this edition TransMedia Catalonia (2014SGR027) teams up with the international project ACT (Accesible Culture and Training) to approach audio description from a myriad of perspectives.

To follow all the interview about ARSAD 2017 click here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Alejandro Moledo, European Disability Forum New Technologies and Innovation officer.

As a member of the Spanish Blind Association and EDF – European Disability Forum New Technologies and Innovation officer Alejandro Moledo is ARSAD’s Keynote Speaker for this year’s edition. Since one of the issues ARSAD has always analyzed is the huge differences in how accessibility is applied in all the European countries, the best and most important thing to do was to start from the European Directives on the matter. Alejandro Moledo in his presentation – Users’s perspective on a converged media environment – will introduce this topic to his fellow speakers and participants to get their attention on the status of media accessibility in the EU.

Keynote presentation: “Users’s perspective on a converged media environment” The European Union is finally acting on accessibility. After years of advocacy work by persons with disabilities, the EU has finally taken some crucial steps to live up to the obligations enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), ratified by the EU in 2011 and 27 of its Member States. On December 2015, the Commission presented a proposal for a Directive on accessibility requirements for mainstream products and services, the so called “European Accessibility Act”. This Directive covers a set of products and services –with a strong ICT component–, including Audiovisual Media Services and related consumer equipment. Soon after, another proposal for a Directive on the accessibility of websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies was adopted, but with the exemption of public broadcasters. And last but not least, the Commission also presented in 2016 a revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, currently under discussion. Bearing in mind this political environment, organisations of persons with disabilities speak out loud and clear: the whole chain of value should be accessible, from the process of setting up the product to the enhanced use of the new functionalities of the converged audiovisual environment: on-demand video services, video-sharing platforms, multi-content, multi-screen, menu navigation, advanced personalisation, as well as quality access services, which have proven useful for everyone. In particular audio description, which is not limited to the media environment, also benefits from these technological developments: automatic audio description and synchronised second-device solutions are clear examples. However, where is the end-user? What is the reality for everyday people? How can we match technology breakthroughs with the policy discussions? What are the keys to ensure an end-to-end accessibility on media in line with the UN CRPD? The EU is moving, but everything is at stake.

Website here.

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PODCAST | Cristiane Oliveira, director and screenwriter of Mulher Do Pai (Nalu on the Border).

Cristiane Oliveira is the director of the feature Mulher do Pai (Nalu on the Border), a Brazil-Uruguay co-production that was selected to Generation 14Plus and she is also alumni at Talents.

Mulher do Pai: Nalu, 16, and her father, Ruben, 39, live in a small country town near the Brazilian border with Uruguay. When he realizes she is becoming a woman, an ambiguous closeness begins to develop between them. That intimacy gives way to jealousy when Rosario, an Uruguayan woman, enters their lives.

Official website here.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting 2.

The sequel of one of the most iconic films of the 90’s , Trainspotting 2 will be screened as an European Premiere at the 67Th Berlinale. Its director, Oscar winner Danny Boyle made a stop in Rome to present it to the italian audience and press. Danny Boyle talks about the importance of music in his films and how he used it, in this second chapter, as a trigger to the memories of the first film. There are also some flashbacks to the 1996 film for a total of one minute only and these also were essential to bring back some emotions and feelings from the past. In the end, Danny Boyle discusses the role of Hope in this second film, as it can be seen in all the protagonists, starting from the one we see as the most unlucky one, Spud.

First there was an opportunity……then there was a betrayal. Twenty years have gone by. Much has changed but just as much remains the same. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the only place he can ever call home. They are waiting for him: Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined up to welcome him, ready to join the dance.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Florian Weghorn, Programme Manager of Berlinale Talents.

The Berlinale Talents’ programme have just been released and programme manager Florian Weghorn is back on FRED to describe all the steps that have brought to this outstanding result. Every year, at the Berlinale Talents there’s a thematic focus on which all the activities, panels and initiatives are inspired by. The 15th anniversary of the Talents introduces a very important focus: ‘Courage: Against All Odds’ and we can’t help but agree with the Florian Weghorn that this couldn’t feel timelier. On the 3rd year of a very important and successful partnership between FRED and Berlinale Talents, to be promoting courage in the cinema arts is a cause we could never miss. As in the previous years, there’s a growing network of successful Alumni coming back to the Talents to share their experience. Among them, director Ana Lily Amarpour and cinematographer Diego Garcia. There will also be what the Talents defined as “Courageous Encounters” with special guests such as this year Berlinale jury President Paul Verhoeven. 93 Films made with the contribution of 131 alumni are screening at the Berlinale and they are still counting, according to Florian Weghorn. So, Be courageous!

Berlinale Talents is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, in cooperation with Creative Europe MEDIA, a programme of the European Union, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. It was initiated in 2003. In addition to the extensive summit programme of master classes and panel discussions with top-notch experts, Berlinale Talents offers a range of Project Labs in which you can further develop and present your own project. Berlinale Talents also provides Studio programmes and workshops for specific groups of film professionals. As an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, the entire event is closely linked with the programmes of the festival sections and the European Film Market. While the roots of Berlinale Talents are firmly planted in Berlin new shoots of the initiative have been sprouting internationally. These Talents International editions, Talents Beirut in Lebanon, Talents Buenos Aires in Argentina, Talents Guadalajara in Mexico, Talents Durban in South Africa, Talents Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Talents Tokyo in Japan have the familiar structure and purpose of their German counterpart; all the while retaining a regional perspective and finding support and the necessary amenities in a locally based international film festival. Talents initiatives are supported by local partners as well as by the Goethe-Institut.

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PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Pilar Orero, head of Transmedia Catalonia.

As the 7th edition of ARSAD, The Advanced Research Seminar on Audio Description is approaching, it is time to talk about accessibility and all the other initiatives that have been created to implement it. Pilar Orero is the woman behind ARSAD as she founded it in 2007 and she’s now head of Transmedia Catalonia. With Pilar Orero we discover the origins of ARSAD, its growing importance and we have the chance to talk about MAP and ACT. Map, the Media Accessibility Platform, is a unified atlas charting the worldwide landscape of research, policies, training and practices in this field. MAP aims to make media accessible to all, regardless of sensorial and linguistic barriers. ACT is an European funded project and its idea is to define the activities and train people who will the ones in charge of media accessibility in theatres, cinemas, museums and so on.

Since its beginning in 2007, the international seminar on audio description ARSAD has been a meeting point for all key agents interested in both research and practice in audio description. Its sixth edition, to be held in Barcelona on March 16th (all day) and 17th (morning) 2017, aims to take stock of recent advances while looking at the future of the field. ARSAD 2017 would like to engage practitioners, researchers, trainers, trainees, regulators, broadcasters, users, social activists, cultural managers, and anyone interested in audio description in a fruitful discussion on the past, present and future of audio description.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Sophie Goyette, director of MES NUITS FERONT ÉCHO from the 46th International Film Festival Rotterdam.

MES NUITS FERONT ÉCHO (English title: Still Night, Still Light) is the first feature film by Sophie Goyette. The film’s turning points seem to revolve around dreams. Goyette shares with us her views on dreams. But another fascinating aspect of the movie is its variety of cultural and geographical backgrounds, the mixture of which greatly affects the movie. Interestingly, Goyette reveals that this was a challenge that she posed for herself: she had never visited many of the places in which the film is shot. This introduces a concept of personal cinema that lurks behind the works of her filmmaking works, and perhaps affects them. MES NUITS FERONT ÉCHO is the first feature film by Sophie Goyette. The film’s turning points seem to revolve around dreams. Goyette shares with us her views on dreams. But another fascinating aspect of the movie is its variety of cultural and geographical backgrounds, the mixture of which greatly affects the movie. Interestingly, Goyette reveals that this was a challenge that she posed for herself: she had never visited many of the places in which the film is shot. This introduces a concept of personal cinema that lurks behind the works of her filmmaking works, and perhaps affects them.

MES NUITS FERONT ÉCHO: Across Americas and Asia, three characters from different cultures and generations are at a turning point in their lives. The key to their questioning may lie in their dreams. This delicate film feeds our sense of regret and existential longing with nocturnal poetry, melancholy and humour.

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PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, director of SEXY DURGA, winner of the top prize at the 46th International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s concept, a blunt observation of the Indian male society, is a filmmaker’s response of outraged and shame to such horrific events as gang rapes and the irony of a country that praises female goddesses but treats real women like junk. In his film, SEXY DURGA, he wanted to avoid using the concept for the benefit of a traditional storyline. In many ways, there is not story in SEXY DURGA, and certainly, there was no narrative planning, as he explains in our interview. He also tells us about his choice of incorporating real footage from the Durga Festival, and the technical challenges of undertaking this kind of project.

SEXY DURGA won the Hivos Tiger Award at the 46th International Film Festival Rotterdam.

SEXY DURGA: Goddess or whore? Two extreme views of women intermingle in this largely improvised spine-chiller. During a nocturnal ride, a young woman and her lover encounter a cross-section of Indian male society. What starts out as an attempt to escape descends into a journey through hell – from which no escape is possible.

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