The audio description Marius awarded to Polanksi's J'accuse

In front of the National Center of Cinema and Animated Image (CNC), at 291 Boulevard Raspail in Paris, the forecasts are going well. Some spectators talk about their respective experiences. " Didn't the audio description disturb you?" Asked a visually impaired woman to a sighted person. " Because I, as a visually impaired person, can mind me ."

On February 26, the third edition of the audio description Marius took place, created in 2018 by the French Confederation for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Amblyopic (CFPSAA). Among the seven feature films nominated for the best film at the Césars, the audio description of J'accuse was crowned this Wednesday evening.

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Dune Cherville, 2019 winner for Pupille , presented the trophy to Raphaëlle Valenti. The professional actress also competed with her audio description of Roubaix, a light . The score was tight: 0.17 points separate Marius and second place, occupied by the audio description of Hors Normes . The Audio Described Version (VAD) of Grâce à Dieu completes the podium.

My wish is that the Marius endures

From the end of the vote on February 20 until the evening of the ceremony, the identity of the winner is jealously guarded. Shortly before the start of the evening, mistress of ceremonies Sylvie Ganche taunts her fellow organizers and members of the jury Yasmina Crabières and Valérie Blard, both blind. She is the only one to know the name of the happy elected official, written in Braille on a sheet of paper which she holds in her hands.

A panel of 130 voters

" The games are done, " says Yasmina Crabières, who comes straight from Chambéry to attend the evening. " My wish is that the Marius will continue. It is asserting our right to culture, ”she claims . The ceremony is also a pretext for meeting and debate between voters. For Dominique Bertuca, blind and juror of the Marius for three years, “ the discussions were very rich this year. For example, is it more interesting to say the names of the actors and the audio descriptor before or after the film? ”.

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The ceremony begins. It's time for Sylvie Ganche to go on stage and reveal the name of the winner. Once in front of her desk, the Rennaise, visually impaired since she was 18, launched into a description of her physique. " I'm wearing a red dress, I'm holding the microphone in my left hand ," she reports. These details are a way for the public, partly made up of visually impaired people, to more easily represent the mistress of ceremonies. " But I will stop there before continuing further, because audio description is a real job, " she continues.

In 2019, one hundred people were part of the panel of voters. This year, there are 137, including 87 women and 50 men. A total of 130 submitted their ballots on time before the deadline. No particular skill is required to join the jury, interest in the seventh art is enough. Both sighted and blind can apply, even if in the end, a large majority of voters are people with visual impairments.

Upstream work

It's fun when you get there

Raphaëlle Valenti also takes the stage to recover his prize. The statuette, the letters of Marius in molten metal, the "u" of which is an upside-down headset, is transmitted every year from winner to winner. The actress thanks the voters who were seduced by her texts and her voice. " It means that I worked well ," she says . " There, for the first time, I have direct feedback ."

The trophy is transmitted from winner to winner each year. Annabelle Georges

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Producing the audio description of J'accuse , by Roman Polanski, was not easy. " It required a lot of research on dress, military language, " says Raphaëlle Valenti. A dueling scene, without dialogues, particularly gave him a hard time. " We have to show how the protagonists move in space, who types who, etc. But it's enjoyable when you get there , "explains the one who notably produced the VAD of the animated film Minuscule 2 and Tanguy 2 , as well as the voices of characters from the video games Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and Diablo III .

J'accuse - Trailer:

A deserved reward for Éliane Lefaure, blind, who participated in the vote. " I have noted J'accuse , even if I had a preference for Hors Normes". A good audio description, " It's like a book. I'm going into a movie, and I'm not asking myself questions . ” Details, but without doing too much, advocates the jury. “ For example, audio description shouldn't say ' it's raining '. You can hear it raining ”. The voice of the audio descriptor also counts for a lot in the comfort of the spectator.

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I dream that all the rooms are equipped with audio description

New measures for audio description

In Lorient (Morbihan), where she lives, Éliane Lefaure is faced with the lack of accessibility of cinemas. Some rooms offer audio description sessions, but at inappropriate times. " Thank God I did not see him in the cinema, because he passed at times when I could not go there ," she regrets.

Audio description also benefits everyone, both sighted and blind. Before discovering the sessions benefiting from a VAD, Jean-François, the spouse of Éliane Lefaure, played the role of audio-descriptor with her. " I described what I saw, I whispered in his ear in the room ". But impossible to tell the film precisely. " You can't explain facial expressions!" ". A difficult exercise, which prevents the sighted guide from fully enjoying the film. " I dream that all the rooms are equipped with audio description, " sighs the voter.

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Several measures were taken in 2020 to improve audio description in France. Since January, all French feature films, without exception, must be audio-described. Otherwise, they will not be able to obtain CNC assistance. In 2018, out of 200 films produced, 90 benefited from VAD. Just under 50% of the French cinematographic panorama.

An Accessibility Observatory has also been set up. It should meet twice a year, in the company of the various film distribution partners. The objective: to improve the distribution of audio-visual films. According to the Federation of the blind in France, nearly 1.7 million people suffer from a vision disorder in France.