Sidecard, the film access materials database, is a website for recording and researching access materials created for film. Sidecard (www.sidecard.co.uk), a searchable database, is intended to improve and promote accessibility while encouraging the sharing of resources.
Users can search and upload details of descriptive subtitles, audio description files and other materials related to cinema accessibility. Recording which files are in existence and who may be contacted to make use of them will, by extension, promote accessible screenings and ensure that films can reach the widest possible audience. As a resource, Sidecard also hopes to bridge the knowledge gap which discourages film-makers, distributors and exhibitors to facilitate accessible screenings.
Sidecard also hosts glossaries and tailored guides to support distributors, exhibitors and film-makers to learn practically about making films more accessible.
Sidecard is named for the separate “sidecar” files that are created to make screenings and home viewing accessible to Deaf and Blind audiences. No such files will be hosted on the site, but their details will be logged – who made them, who commissioned them, against what version of what particular film – and contact details provided, so that whoever might want to make further use of them can request the materials and permission to use them.
The site, a joint project of Matchbox Cine, Inclusive Cinema, Film Hub Wales, Film Hub Scotland and Independent Cinema Office.
If you recently watched Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and want to learn more here are 7 documentaries by Deaf and disabled people for you to check out. These films are available for either rental, purchase, or by subscription on various platforms and websites. You can find information about captions or audio description by going … More
This guidance was written for government communicators but may also be useful to other communication professionals. We absorb a wide range of information every day through different communication channels, for example, radio, television, newspapers, advertising, internet and word of mouth. Some of these methods may be out of reach or inaccessible to some disabled people. … More
This guide provides free information and tips to help organisations become welcoming to, and inclusive of, the 5 million people of working age in the UK who are D/deaf or have hearing loss.
Why do artists use social media? How important is social media to an artist’s career? And if artists want to use it to their advantage, what do they need to do? In this report, Gabrielle de la Puente outlines the impact of social media on artists as a tool for work, networking, and creativity. The … More
After months of work and collaboration with over 200 disabled people and activists from across Wales, Disability Wales are delighted to launch Bring Us Our Rights: Disabled People’s Manifesto this International Day of Disabled People! The manifesto highlights many key areas for advancing equality for disabled people as well as offering policy solutions. The manifesto … More
International Day of People with Disabilities is the annual celebration of people with disabilities. This year On 3 December 2024, the theme is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.”
We call on domestic and international public health officials, political representatives, advocates, supporters, and every citizen in every community, to learn from the experiences of disabled people, and push for more meaningful investments into the socioeconomic building blocks which will reduce the barriers faced by people with disabilities in every community.
Disabled representation in cinema continues to be a struggle, as we see very few authentic depictions that don’t play to the hero or tragedy tropes so often associated with disability on screen. Our ask of the film sector is to see more varied characters and stories about disability, to hire more disabled talent into production, distribution and exhibition roles in film, and to support any workers with access needs with compassion and care, so they can progress and have jobs for life in the industry.
As regards exhibition, at Inclusive Cinema, we seek to see as many subtitled, audio-described and relaxed screenings made available across the UK for those with access requirements as there are for those without access requirements.
Your Local Cinema lists many subtitled and audio-described screenings
Accessible Screenings UK also list autism-friendly, dementia-friendly, subtitled and audio-described screenings
Inclusive Cinema spoke to Rianne Pictures founder Caris Rianne and team member Sophie Duncan on their approach to implementing the toolkit Dismantling Structural Inequality in Your Cinema by Sadia Hameed. How did you hear about the toolkit? Caris: We came across it, I think it was around January time, and it was on my to … More
Why the project matters The pilot challenges barriers to cinema and film faced by wider communities, and takes a bespoke approach to meeting needs which heighten the barriers during COVID. It ensures that during a time of desperation for survival in the exhibition industry, that already marginalised communities do not continue to be neglected. Aims … More
