Menü

Welcome India

Greta - Just enjoy cinema!

Greta is an app that enables people with sight or hearing loss to experience fully accessible cinema. The app can also play subtitles and audio versions in different languages, but this service is not yet online for India.

Greta is a special app: it plays the existing audio description (AD), subtitles / closed captions, sound amplification and sing language videos for hard-of-hearing individuals and people with hearing lost (SDH) at any time, place, or screening - in indoor and outdoor cinemas, at home, at school etc. – simply, using one’s own smart device. Greta whispers audio descriptions and sound amplification or plays subtitles / closed captions and sign language videos.

The only precondition is that the producers and distributors have engaged our company to make the films fully accessible. Up until now, we were able to offer access to more than 2.000 movies.

In India, we offered the following films, among others, barrier-free in different languages: Venom: The Last Dance, Gladiator II, Solo Leveling - ReAwakening, Pushpa 2: The Rule, Viduthalai, Barroz, Eleven, Kraven The Hunter, Game Changer, Daaku Maharaaj, Kadhalikka Neramillai and many more. Please check the latest films directly in the app. 

AD? SDH? What?
What exactly is audio description? It is the spoken description of what can be seen on screen, specially produced for people who are blind or sight-impaired. This additional narrative line is inserted in the gaps between dialogues.

What does SDH mean? These are subtitles  for deaf and hard-of-hearing people also known as closed captions.. Regular subtitles lack information such as which person is currently speaking or what is happening on an acoustic level (doors slamming, explosions, etc.). SDH contain these pieces of information.

The Greta app can also play sound amplification. This enables people with a hearing impairment to understand the dialogue in the cinema clearly and distinctly. Some hearing devices can also receive this track directly via Bluetooth.

The Taj Mahal in the background, two smartphones in the foreground. One says Welcome to Greta and the different versions can be seen. On the other is the film Pushpa 2.

Looking back: Fully accessible cinema? Farther away than flying to the moon
Getting access to appropriate audio descriptions or closed captions has not been easy for blind or deaf people in India. Even though audio description or SDH had started to be produced, it was very difficult to enjoy those resources inside cinemas.

Since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, participation and accessibility are understood as human rights. Our thought in 2013: Why on earth was it possible to travel into space and even to the moon since the 1960’s and yet fully accessible cinema was still a unrealized fantasy floating in the air?

Today: But there is a reason to celebrate, because now all films in India must be accessible with barrier-free versions in the cinema.

We went a step further
With Greta we aim at encouraging the accessibility of films as well as opportunities to participate in cinema-related activities and discussions. We have worked diligently to achieve our goal of making all films with audio description and SDH easily accessible to all via GRETA. Additionally we are starting soon our service of making subtitles and audio versions available in other languages, to enable a wider audience to enjoy watching movies wherever they want, whenever they want, all across India. Individual access to subtitles and audio versions will allow all residents and also tourists, expats, language students or any person who doesn’t have the access needed to go to the movies, and fully understand the film.

We love cinema as a window to the world that allows deep and emotional insights into life through fiction. Experiencing cinema is not just seeing pictures and listening to the sound. What draws you into the spell of cinema are the stories being told.

Whether Blind, deaf, hard of hearing or visually impaired, whether journalist or individual, all should also have an access to previews and other activities related to cinema. We have already organized such events, but it could/ should become more natural. Furthermore, it would be beneficial for international film festivals to have blind or deaf jury members, as this would contribute an entirely new perspective on film. Thus, it is our vision that this technology becomes a standard worldwide.

GRETA:
For these reasons, we have developed GRETA, an app that can play audio description, SDH subtitles / closed captions and hearing amplification anywhere. The app is very easy and convenient to use, failsafe, secure and free. GRETA gives this new cinema audience the opportunity to choose for themselves. GRETA makes cinema fully accessible and makes inclusion a reality. 

How does it work?
On a yellow background a sketch of how the download works and the text: Audio description, closed captions & sound amplification. Absolutely wherever you want - simply from your own smart device!

1. Get the app for free from the AppStore or on GooglePlay.

2. Log In using Apple or Google or register manually and confirm your registration via email.

3. Select the version you want. 

4. You will be taken directly to the current movie list.

5. Download your preferred version. It will be saved under “My Movies”.

6. In the movie theater, just press Play and relax. In a few seconds, the app automatically recognizes the movie sound and plays the selected version.

→ Greta works offline

→ For audio features, please use your own headphones.

Feedback from users:

  • „It was simply superb! No more cinema without Greta!“
  • „I was absolutely delighted to be sitting right there in the hall, among all the other sighted people!“
  •  „I’m hearing impaired and totally awed by your project! Simply fab!“
  •  „Brilliant! In the true sense of the of the word I’m able to understand everything. Even dialects or foreign languages are no barrier anymore.“