Alexandra & Martin @ soundtitled movie for blind

File photo Billed Bladet



Today Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, was at a showing of Thomas Winterburg's new film with added soundtitles for the visually impaired or blind, together with her husband Martin Jørgensen. Alexandra has maintained the Danish Association of the Blind as one of her patronages following her departure from the royal ranks. Thomas Vinterberg's latest movie, A Man Comes Home, has been soundtitled by the Danish Film Institute and was shown today using the soundtitle technology.

See Søren Steffen's great photo gallery of today's event

Meanwhile, Alexandra has recently established a website, Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg, as a destination point for information about her and her activities.

And as always, Lotte Haldrup's site remains a good port of call for up-to-date news and photos about Alexandra: Unofficial website of Alexandra Countess of Frederiksborg

From Jyllands Posten/The Copenhagen Post:

Blind Go To The Movies
Blind people will have the opportunity to 'see' a movie thanks to a special technique employed by the Danish Film Institute.
Some 150 blind people have been invited to the pictures on Wednesday for the showing of Danish director Thomas Vinterberg's latest film, 'A Man Comes Home'.
While it sounds much like inviting a group of deaf people to a concert, the Danish Association of the Blind has organised this first-ever outing in co-operation with the Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen so that the group can experience the film through a new technique.
By recording a separate narrative sound track and using specially designed equipment for playback, the movie-goers can get an idea of what is happening on-screen.
Members of the audience are also given a set of headphones to wear during the film, which allows them to follow the plot and still experience the sound effects and dialogue that goes with the movie.
Michael Madsen, an association member, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper that he is looking forward to experiencing the new technique.
'Since I lost my sight in 1980, I've only been to the movies twice, and both times I ended up disturbing others because I needed them to explain what was going on,' he said. 'I have no problem creating pictures in my head, so I have great expectations in going to the movies again.'
Initial experiments from Nimbus Film studio and the Danish Film Institute have shown that producing the blind-friendly soundtrack is inexpensive and simple, and the necessary equipment is also easy to come by.
Jens Bromann, president of the Danish Association of the Blind, said he hopes the new technique will catch on at all film studios and movie theatres.
'Now we just need all Danish-produced films to be made with sound adaptation and all theatres to invest in the equipment so blind people can go to the movies anywhere in the country.' The Copenhagen Post

See our post about the premiere of the film here.