When you listen to a film...

Barbara Fickert loves films. And like any cinephile, she loves going to the cinema. But to be able to “see” the films, her smartphone is an indispensable companion. Because Barbara Fickert is blind. Through the app “GRETA” she hears what she can't see. For many films, she can download the audio-described version in advance and have it play automatically in sync with the film. This form of accessibility gave Barbara the idea of writing about her cinema experiences and sharing them in her own blog called “Blindgängerin” (a pun on “blind” and “dud”). Last year she also founded “Kinoblindgänger gemeinnützige GmbH”, a non-profit whose goal is to promote precisely this special form of accessibility: creating audio descriptions for films for which nobody else would produce an audio-described version.



Barbara, you're blind, but you love going to the cinema. To some, that may sound surprising at first…

When I was ten, our family got a television. I couldn't make out much, since I only had a little residual sight left, but I still loved watching the box together with my family. At around the same age I went to the cinema for the first time. I was immediately captivated by the bright, glaring light of the screen and the special acoustics in the dark auditorium. And that enthusiasm has lasted to this day!


Can you tell us very briefly what options there are for blind people to experience audio-described films in the cinema?

Basically, blind people have two ways of enjoying the cinema. One is cinema auditoriums equipped with special technology that offer audio descriptions and subtitles. Unfortunately, there are still far too few of them. The other is the app “GRETA”, which is available to everyone. You can simply download it to your smartphone at home. Then you choose a film from the database and go to a cinema of your choice.


In your blog you also write about the films you watch at the cinema...

One day – as so often – I took a taxi to the cinema. After a while, the driver asked me whether I was just pretending to be blind. Completely taken aback, I asked him what made him think that. His answer was: “Some people have that kind of 'quirk'”. It was simply beyond his imagination that people who can't see go to the cinema too. Since that formative experience, I've been working to raise awareness in the sighted world and to make sure blind people can have fun at the cinema too.
In July 2014 I was asked to write a report on using GRETA for the magazine “Sichtweisen” (then still called “Gegenwart”). Of course I was very happy to do it – and that's how my first article came about, on the film “Monsieur Claude und seine Töchter” (Serial (Bad) Weddings). Writing about the film was so incredibly enjoyable and came more easily than I expected that a friend said to me I should simply carry on!
And so in January 2015 I started reporting regularly on my cinema visits in my blog. And I still enjoy it just as much today


For some time now you've been working as a director on audio-described film productions at speaker-search. How did this collaboration come about?

One of my great wishes was to become an audio describer. I really did apply a lot. But unfortunately I almost always got rejections or vague promises from the audio describers. And all I really wanted was to be a fly on the wall.
In August 2015 Seneit Debese heard about my predicament and suggested I give speaker-search a call – they were a really fun bunch, she said. Of course I didn't need telling twice, so I called and got Jörn on the line straight away. He was open and enthusiastic about my idea of sitting in on a recording and said he'd get back to me. For the first time I had the feeling that it might work out this time and that he meant it.

I'll never forget it: I was sitting on the sofa at my friends' place, we were waiting for the food that was still braising in the oven, when suddenly my phone rang. It was Sören! He asked me if I'd like to be there for the recording of the audio-described version  of “Ein Vampir auf der Couch” (Therapy for a Vampire) with Thomas Arnold. Of course I said yes immediately! That was also just when my blog was coming into being.

I'm simply so glad to have the speaker-search team at my side  as such a competent and trustworthy partner for handling and producing the audio descriptions and subtitles for “Kinoblindgänger”! They always have an ear for my many technical questions.


What exactly are your tasks as a director?

My job is to concentrate closely on the narrator's voice and pay attention to two things: first, clear and correct pronunciation, and second, how understandable the content is. As soon as something's unclear to me, I ask. I used to be rather reserved about it, but these days I'm ruthless about corrections! This ensures that the audio descriptions really are understood by blind people like me. It's the final check before completion, so to speak, and everything should be perfect at that point.


“Kinoblindgänger gemeinnützige GmbH” has existed since April 2016. What exactly is behind it, and how can people support you?

Because of blogging, I go to the cinema much more often than I used to. But unfortunately that also made me realise that many international films are not yet available in accessible versions. So I had the idea of taking action myself. I founded my own non-profit company. An audio-described film production quickly runs to several thousand euros. Many distributors often can't cover these costs. That's why, with the help of donations and sponsors, my project campaigns for more German-language audio-described versions and subtitles.

Anyone who'd like to help us make as many films as possible accessible is very welcome to do so via the donation platform “betterplace”.


If you had one wish, what would you wish for the future of accessible film?

I just want to be able to go to the cinema like everyone else! There's still a lot to do until then! But right now I'm looking forward to the German Audio Description Award ceremony and keeping my fingers crossed for speaker-search and their nomination for the audio-described version of “24 Wochen” (24 Weeks)!