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http://www.timesunion.com/AspStorie...ategory=REGION&newsdate=10/16/2005&TextPage=1
Last September, Dan Farfaglia's dream of showing feature films that cater to deaf audiences has been realized, and the trend seems to be spreading.
Many people who are deaf cannot experience the joy of a drive-in movie and most films are not subtitled. Farfaglia and the owner of the Midway Drive-In Movie Theater in Minetto, Oswego County, teamed up for the second year and offered an open captioned triple feature, titled "Movies Under the Stars for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing."
The second annual Open Captioned Weekend, which coincided with Deaf Awareness Week, ran from Sept. 23-25 and drew an even larger crowd than the year before.
"Herbie: Fully Loaded" was screened at a sneak preview on Sept. 22 for students from the New York State School for the Deaf in Rome. The number of students that attended more than doubled from last year.
"It was a completely different world for them," Farfaglia said. "Hardly any of them were able to enjoy a drive-in movie before."
Farfaglia can empathize at least partially. He also has a hearing impairment, which he said was discovered when he was about 4 years old. Hearing aids compensate for his partial loss of hearing, enabling him to enjoy movies without subtitles.
Movies that were shown over the weekend were, "Herbie: Fully Loaded," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "War of the Worlds."
A highlight of the event was the presentation of a plaque to John Nagelschmidt, from Deb Pardi, president of the Deaf Advocacy Council of Central New York, that read: "Special thanks to John Nagelschmidt and the staff of the Midway Drive-In Theater, for being the first to host a unique experience for our community and paving the way for open captioned films' permanent presence in Central New York." Captions are either open or closed. Open captions always are in view and cannot be turned off, whereas closed captions can be turned on and off by the viewer.
"Our success has directly influenced the Carousel Mall in Syracuse and Regal Theaters at Latham Circle Mall to show open captioned films," said Farfaglia. "The industry saw a need and now offer open captioned films almost every day at these locations. That's not bad for theaters that didn't show any such movies a year ago."
To date, Midway is the only drive-in theater that has ever screened movies that cater to deaf audiences, Farfaglia said.
For more information about open captioned films, go to www.insightcinema.org.
Last September, Dan Farfaglia's dream of showing feature films that cater to deaf audiences has been realized, and the trend seems to be spreading.
Many people who are deaf cannot experience the joy of a drive-in movie and most films are not subtitled. Farfaglia and the owner of the Midway Drive-In Movie Theater in Minetto, Oswego County, teamed up for the second year and offered an open captioned triple feature, titled "Movies Under the Stars for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing."
The second annual Open Captioned Weekend, which coincided with Deaf Awareness Week, ran from Sept. 23-25 and drew an even larger crowd than the year before.
"Herbie: Fully Loaded" was screened at a sneak preview on Sept. 22 for students from the New York State School for the Deaf in Rome. The number of students that attended more than doubled from last year.
"It was a completely different world for them," Farfaglia said. "Hardly any of them were able to enjoy a drive-in movie before."
Farfaglia can empathize at least partially. He also has a hearing impairment, which he said was discovered when he was about 4 years old. Hearing aids compensate for his partial loss of hearing, enabling him to enjoy movies without subtitles.
Movies that were shown over the weekend were, "Herbie: Fully Loaded," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "War of the Worlds."
A highlight of the event was the presentation of a plaque to John Nagelschmidt, from Deb Pardi, president of the Deaf Advocacy Council of Central New York, that read: "Special thanks to John Nagelschmidt and the staff of the Midway Drive-In Theater, for being the first to host a unique experience for our community and paving the way for open captioned films' permanent presence in Central New York." Captions are either open or closed. Open captions always are in view and cannot be turned off, whereas closed captions can be turned on and off by the viewer.
"Our success has directly influenced the Carousel Mall in Syracuse and Regal Theaters at Latham Circle Mall to show open captioned films," said Farfaglia. "The industry saw a need and now offer open captioned films almost every day at these locations. That's not bad for theaters that didn't show any such movies a year ago."
To date, Midway is the only drive-in theater that has ever screened movies that cater to deaf audiences, Farfaglia said.
For more information about open captioned films, go to www.insightcinema.org.