Rouen. Without ads and less noisy: at the cinema, I tried a Ciné Relax session

About once a month, screenings like no other are presented in several cinemas in the region. These are Relaxed Cinema sessions, caring and adapted for people with disabilities. I enjoyed the broadcast of the film What is love? at the Omnia in Rouen as part of this system to see the difference with a classic session.

A warm environment

In partnership with Omnia and the Association for Disabled Adults and Young People of Seine-Maritime (APAJH 76), I quickly understood the benefit of this adapted session. Several things jump out at you when you enter the theater and the film begins. The screening starts without the usual ads and trailers but with a video which explains the specificity of the screening. For the visual and sound experience, the lights go out gently, the sound is quieter and the film is subtitled. “These sessions are adaptable but it is also a moment of respite for families, the idea is that everyone benefits from it”, explains Elizabeth Alazard-Schneider, Ciné Relax referent for Omnia. The real difference lies precisely in the warm environment established by volunteers. They are present to ensure that the settings suit everyone and support the spectators. With or without a disability, this allows everyone to express themselves freely without fear of being judged. “With these sessions, we can go to the cinema more peacefully without the fear of being looked at by others,” Mathilde Dumont, whose child has a disability, tells me.

Ciné Relax is a national system which is part of Culture Relax. It is present in several other cinemas, for example in Dieppe, Grand-Quevilly or Montivilliers for Seine-Maritime. Each session is based on the partnership between a cinema and a city or an association specializing in inclusion so that there is a team of volunteers trained to welcome this type of audience. Behind this system there is a double objective: to make culture accessible to all and to raise awareness of different types of disabilities.