In a move that has been touted as a real breakthrough for accessibility, the popular film was dubbed into Arabic late last year for theatrical release. A live AD session was planned and then staged by Cairo-based Masreya Media in conjunction with the Zawya cinema on 28 March 2016. It was attended by over 150 vision-impaired children, who enjoyed a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience with a live narration that described scenes, body language, facial expressions and costumes.
This welcome development comes after the screening in June last year of the 1963 epic Al Nassar Saladin, which became the first Egyptian feature film to be screened with AD for blind and vision impaired people. The recent Media for All conference held at the University of Western Sydney also covered audio described media and the trends driving implementation.
A third film, entitled Hotel Transylvania 3, is scheduled to be released in September 2018, with hopefully many more live and pre-recorded AD options available for screenings around the world.
Check out more information on audio description in the arts, covering museums and galleries, theatre and music, here on the Media Access Australia website.
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