Animest SUPER, a project run by the Animest Association, is set to bring animated films to audiences with diverse sensory abilities in several cities and localities throughout Romania.
The films feature accessibility tools still rare in Romania: audio description, Romanian sign language interpretation, and descriptive subtitles. They will be projected in Bucharest, Craiova, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța, Giurgiu, Timișoara, and Vicovu de Sus, Suceava County.
In addition to accessible film screenings in various venues (cinemas, schools, theaters, alternative spaces), Animest SUPER also includes two masterclass-training sessions in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca. These are dedicated to event organizers, cinema professionals, and teachers, offering tested tools to transform good accessibility practices from an exception into a standard in the Romanian cultural landscape.
The Animest SUPER project, funded by the Dacia Foundation for Romania through the “Mobility Matters” program, aims to remove physical and social barriers that prevent full participation in cultural life for deaf or visually impaired people. The association joined the national movement for removing mobility barriers to development after being selected alongside 34 other non-governmental organizations across the country under this grant program.
“We believe that access to culture is a fundamental human right and an essential resource for community development. Through the Mobility Matters program, we have committed to removing the physical and social barriers that prevent people from entering a cinema, feeling the emotion of a theater performance, or attending a festival,” stated Cătălina Murariu, Executive Director of the Dacia Foundation for Romania.
The debut of the Animest SUPER program will take place on Friday, March 20, at 11 AM, in Bucharest, with the screening of the film Little Amélie (dir. Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han), at Cinema Elvire Popesco, hosted in the slot dedicated to the European initiative Cinema Without Barriers. The event, organized on International Francophonie Day, offers a full adaptation for diverse abilities: dubbing and descriptive subtitles in Romanian, Romanian sign language interpretation, and audio description via headphones.
Nominated for the 2026 Oscars, the film tells a moving story about childhood curiosity and is suitable for simultaneous viewing by audiences with and without disabilities.
Access is free for people with disabilities and their companions. Students, pensioners, and children have special rates.
(Photo source: press release)
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