00:00What if the lead actor in your film couldn't see it?
00:04Rwanda's filmmakers are changing that.
00:07I like the movie so much.
00:09I'm really curious about what they are watching.
00:13For many blind audiences,
00:15exclusion doesn't always mean being absent.
00:18Sometimes it means being in the room
00:19while the story is being told in a medium
00:22that is not accessible to them.
00:27One day I said, let me join others as they watch a football match.
00:32Unfortunately, they turned off the sounds.
00:35And I was surprised by their scream, go!
00:39And I was like, what happened?
00:41Who just scored? How?
00:46In Kigali, a group of young filmmakers
00:49made a film about blind massage therapists.
00:52But of course, the people at the heart of the story
00:55were not able to see it.
00:58For the director of the film,
01:00this led to an important realization.
01:04In Rwanda specifically,
01:07the majority doesn't know about the audio description.
01:11They just think that those who are visually impaired
01:15are just people who are aside.
01:17To me, it felt like it's something that needs to be corrected.
01:24Since then, Danny has trained intensively in audio description
01:27with support from the Rwanda Media Project.
01:30Through the Breaking Barriers Inclusion Initiative,
01:33he's now sharing that skill with other creators,
01:35exploring how to make movies accessible for the sight impaired.
01:41That's the trick.
01:42The hardest part is to figure out the world
01:46that you use to describe what's happening.
01:51So every little time you do it,
01:54you can make something out of it.
01:57It's thought that tens of thousands of people
01:59live with visual impairment in Rwanda.
02:01But most screen content produced in this country
02:04is only for the sighted.
02:06As filmmakers explore greater inclusion,
02:09they're discovering audio description
02:11as a new creative language.
02:15The biggest challenge is timing,
02:18knowing where and when to describe
02:20so that they can truly feel the film.
02:25Like any creative activity,
02:27audio description is a skill that needs to be learned.
02:30Trainees watch, listen, write, revise and record.
02:33The process is repeated again and again.
02:36Through blindfold exercises,
02:38they also sharpen their hearing
02:40and get a sense of how much sound can reveal.
02:42What does this journey feel like?
02:47When I was blindfolded, that was terrible.
02:50We are used to so much.
02:52And our other senses are not very developed.
02:54For example, my ears are not very developed.
02:56And we are taken out of our comfort zone.
03:00To assist filmmakers in the process,
03:02visually impaired participants are invited in
03:05to test the descriptions.
03:08Their feedback helps reveal what's clear,
03:11what's missing,
03:12and what truly makes the film accessible.
03:17I'm curious about what the environment looks like.
03:21I wish they would just tell me what I don't see.
03:27Tell us the most important thing
03:29that makes you know a person has a mental problem.
03:32What makes you know that?
03:36Accessibility is only made possible
03:38with the help of those who need it.
03:41For many filmmakers,
03:42cinema often begins with the perfect frame,
03:45the right lens,
03:46and the most cinematic light.
03:49But breaking barriers is challenging them
03:51to think beyond the image.
03:53So how is this initiative changing the way
03:55they see their role as creators?
03:57It's a breakthrough, honestly,
04:00because thinking that there is a big audience
04:03that we had and did not know how to engage with them.
04:08Those who have disabilities,
04:11there are also people who need to enjoy
04:14what other people also are enjoying in their life.
04:19So the barrier should be broken.
04:23Barriers to the on-screen world are gradually coming down.
04:26What does this mean to those who have been excluded for so long?
04:33It's so great that they are thinking of people like us.
04:37I'm truly excited.
04:38This is the beginning.
04:40And if it continues at this pace without giving up,
04:43all will keep getting better.
04:46A workshop that began with one film,
04:49one man and a small group of trainees.
04:51Could this become part of a larger African movement
04:54for accessible media?
04:58If you compare the whole budget of a film,
05:01the audio description is such a small part.
05:05We can help and we will do further training workshops
05:09in this field.
05:11So that you have really many people who can do this audio description
05:16so that you can have all these people included.
05:21What if your lead actor can't see your film?
05:24For these young Rwandan filmmakers,
05:26that question is no longer something to fix at the end.
05:29It's where the story begins.
05:31From one workshop in Kigali to a wider African audience,
05:35they're breaking down barriers
05:36and learning how cinema can speak to everyone
05:40through images, sound and inclusion.
