CinéRelax
With or without a disability, cinema is for everyone !
Relax, an ordinary film session made accessible to people whose disability excludes them from cultural places.
Picture taken at Cinéville of Saint-Sébastien, during a “Cinérelax” film session.
Why ?
People with autism, multiple disabilities, intellectual, cognitive, psychic disabilities or, more broadly, those whose disabilities lead to atypical behaviours have very little access to ordinary culture and leisures.
Indeed, they are spectators who can speak loudly, laugh, applaud or shout when they are happy or worried, move… Their behaviour effectively excludes them from cultural places.
Relax sessions are just adapted so that everyone – whatever the level of his disability – enjoy going to the cinema with others spectators.
Dare to take the first step to attend the Ciné Relax sessions. The supervisors are aware of the difficulties related to this. But within the Ciné Relax sessions, there is no judgment. The sessions are totally adapted to the audience we welcome.
But what is a relax session ?
The device implemented within the Ciné Relax network is essentially a human device. It is designed to inform, surround and reassure spectators.
The sessions take place on weekends in all-public cinemas. A minimum of facilities is proposed: light slowly fading, sound lowered, absence of advertisements and trailers, but the essential consists in a warm welcome by a trained reception team.
All the spectators are clearly informed of the specifics of the session and the reception team is present throughout the screening to help depending on the needs of each one.
If they do not come in autonomy, the spectators remain under the responsibility of their accompanying person.
For who ?
These sessions are for everyone ! Thanks to the Relax device, disabled people or able-bodied people share the pleasure of a movie session.
- For people with disabilities
The Relax sessions allow to chidlren, teenargers or adults whose disability leads to atipical behaviors to discover a cultural hobby with confidence, then to enjoy it.
They can express in their own way, according to their means.
- For their family and their friends
Exclusion from cultural places of disabled people reinforces their isolation, and the one of their loved ones.
The Relax sessions allow to families a anxiety-free access to a cultural hobby.
They can share a pleasant moment without the fear of disturbing, or the humiliating retreat after a few minutes….
- For all the spectateurs
Friendly and warm sessions where everyone is welcomed in a caring environment.
Aurian is happy to go to the cinema and his siblings thank him warmly because it is thanks to him that they go to these sessions…
We are happy to go there in family, around him. The welcome with the volunteers who help us to get him out of the car, to up the stairs, etc is perfect.
We discovered these sessions, and we have started 6 months ago with Hugues, 16 years old. It was not won, he was afraid of the dark, the noise, movies he does not know, do not sit too long… He is now a fan of cinema!
The Ciné Relax network (ex-Ciné-ma différence) brings together partners (local authorities, cinema and associations) proposing sessions in more than 70 cities in France
In order to read more about sessions or discover other cultural proposals, here is the website : https://culture-relax.org/.
For any questions about the CineRelax network :
E-mail : coordination@cinerelax.org
Phone number : +33 1 71 20 22 64