Film/TV
IDC Helps Make Superfest Accessible With Blind and Low-Vision VO Talent
Story Highlights
New York-based International Digital Centre (IDC) createD audio description tracks for over half of the films featured in this year’s Superfest Disability Film Festival, with more than half featuring blind and low-vision narrators.
Superfest is the longest-running disability film festival in the world. For more than 30 years, Superfest has celebrated cutting-edge cinema that portrays disability through a diverse, complex, unabashed and engaging lens.
Superfest is one of the few festivals worldwide that prioritizes access for disabled filmgoers of all kinds.
“Requiring all of our films to be audio-described so that blind and low vision participants can join us reflects Superfest’s priority of making culture accessible to everyone,” said Superfest co-director Emily Smith Beitiks. “Not only is this significant for access, but it also demonstrates how disability can be a creative and generative force. Many of our filmmakers find that the process of adding audio description results in versions of their film that they actually like better and begin playing their audio described versions for all future screenings following Superfest.”
IDC’s award-winning Audio Description department was ready to take on the task of providing audio description tracks for 12 of the festival’s 22 featured films.
Their ongoing commitment to employing blind and low-vision talents in AD production is guided by the rallying cry of the disability rights movement: “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
Said Eric Wickstrom, IDC’s Director of Audio Description:
“With eight blind and low-vision VO talents on our roster, we were uniquely positioned to make sure that the Disabled community was represented not just onscreen and in the production process, but in the accessibility piece as well,” Beitiks enthused: “We are extremely grateful that this year, our collaboration with IDC meant that when our filmmakers were not experienced in developing audio description, their films were in experienced hands, and we can’t wait to share the final products with our audience October 15-17!”
