China's first blind cinema shows over 600 films

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CGTN

What does "going to the movies" mean for most of us?

Maybe it just means sitting in the dark cinema, waiting for the screen to light up, and then indulging ourselves in the fictional world.

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Considering the needs of a hearing-impaired audience, many films are attached with subtitles. Some DVDs even have closed captions that remind the audience about certain sound effects.

But what about the blind people? Are they totally shut out from the world of "visual art"?

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Wang Weili says "no." As a "film narrator" in Xinmu Cinema in Beijing, his job is explaining films for blind audiences. Every weekend, a lot of blind people would come here for his narration while listening to the movies.

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Xinmu Cinema, Beijing. /CGTN Photo

Wang Weili's first narration was back in 2004 when he had only one audience. He still remembers that it was a film with cars rolling in mid-air and huge explosions. "He said that right when I was narrating; he was able to add to the sound with mental images. It became alive as if he could see them." Wang said.

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From then on, Wang Weili has developed a special connection with the blind audiences.

In order to offer better services, Xinmu Cinema has put to use the high-quality acoustic equipment. Day by day, Wang Weili tries to explain the images to the blind in a way they could mostly understand.

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"I'm telling them things about the characters, about their facial expressions, the scenes, the relationships and how the camera moves, so that they could get a 'visual' concept of what's happening.”

Wang Weili's effort wasn't too impressive perhaps in the eyes of normal people, but it does have a huge impact on his audience. Some of them come to the cinema every Saturday regardless of the weather. And some feel that he opens for them a whole new world, making them complete.

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Thanks to Wang Weili, there are more and more film narrators in Xinmu Cinema. People from all walks of life become volunteers in here. Despite real-time narrating, they began to try different ways, such as recording, in order to help more blind people with their narrations.

Now, film narrating has been introduced to hundreds of blind schools in over a dozen cities. With the help of their voices, more and more blind children are now able to reach a colorful world.

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"Xinmu" means "seeing with heart" literally. The cinema will always be there, to help people "see" the world with their hearts.

The story is one in "The 1.3 Billion" series exploring the diverse lives that make up China.