Join us for Deaf Conversations About Cinema, an informal discussion featuring simultaneous BSL (British Sign Language) interpretation about the themes of The Piano in the Café/Bar (Deaf and hearing audience members are both most welcome).

Jane Campion became the first female director to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes 25 years ago for this, her extraordinary, triumphant masterpiece (now gloriously restored) about a woman's rebellion in a newly colonised, Victorian-era New Zealand. Holly Hunter gives a majestic silent performance as Ada McGrath, the Scotswoman and talented pianist who is newly arrived with her strong-willed young daughter (Anna Paquin) in the New Zealand wilderness. Her husband to be, in a marriage arranged by her father, refuses to transport her beloved piano to his home, and sells it to his overseer (Harvey Keitel). He agrees to return the piano - in exchange for lessons that gradually become a series of erotically charged encounters. As the story unfolds like a Greek tragedy, all of their long-suppressed emotions come to the fore...

The 18:00 screening of The Piano on Mon 18 June will include Descriptive Subtitles and short introduction from Sian Norris, Writer and Founder & Director of Bristol Women's Literature Festival and a post-show discussion with other audience members – both of which will feature simultaneous BSL (British Sign Language) interpretation. From 20:10 please join us for Deaf Conversations About Cinema, an informal discussion about the themes of the film in the Café/Bar (Deaf and hearing audience members are both most welcome). You’ll receive 10% off drinks with your cinema ticket – so grab a glass and let us know your thoughts about The Piano.

Live Subtitling

This month, the Deaf Conversations About Cinema post-show discussion will feature live subtitles as well as simultaneous BSL interpretation, making it more accessible for people who are Deaf/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing.

The subtitles are being provided as part of a research project at the University of Roehampton, which is exploring how subtitles can be used to widen the access available at live events. Two respeakers will be present and they will be using speech recognition software to create subtitles in real-time, which will be projected onto a screen for everyone to see. The subtitles you see on the news and sports shows are created in a similar way.

Your feedback on the subtitles and the access they provide is really important to us. At the end of the post-show discussion, we will be giving out a questionnaire to everyone who attends. You can answer before you leave or send your feedback to us. We’ll give you all the information you need on the night and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.

If you want to find out more, please contact the researcher Zoe Moores.

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