The festival, which runs from the 22nd of November to the 3rd of December, aims to promote accessibility and demonstrate how easy it can be to make cultural events available to all.

Films ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘Summer Coda’ will be shown with captions and/or audio description and Auslan interpreters will be onsite to facilitate communication. All venues will be wheelchair accessible. The event is free of charge and will take place in four locations across New South Wales.

The festival is also screening a series of short films for children in over 15 New South Wales schools and all films will be captioned and audio described. The tour provides an opportunity for students to experience accessible cinema and learn about access issues.

Daniel Littlepage, head of Business Development at Red Bee Media explains.

“Red Bee Media has been supporting the push for wider community access to film for several years now and we are delighted to be part of this fantastic event. For us, it’s all about educating people and generating awareness about how simple the provision of access services can be, and how much they enrich the lives of people with disabilities.”

Marianne Alla, Managing Director at The Festivalists, the event organiser says.

“This is the third year in a row that Red Bee Media has supplied pro bono captioning and audio description for the event. Staff at Red Bee Media share our vision of a future where full inclusion for all moviegoers is a reality. We are really happy that they have decided to work with us again and very excited about this year’s event.”

In July this year, the Federal Government announced the Cinema Access Implementation Plan, which aims to see every major cinema chain increase accessibility for its hearing- and vision-impaired patrons by 2014.

Red Bee Media Australia and The Access All Areas Film Festival hope that this year’s event will inspire others to follow suit and encourage the film industry to continue to provide a wider choice for people with disabilities.