When CODA hits theaters, as well as Apple TV+, on Friday, it will be breaking new ground in various ways. One of them is that all U.S. and UK theater screenings will have open captions, meaning those who are deaf or hard of hearing will be able to watch it on the big screen without needing special equipment.
CODA Being Screened With Options
The film is about a family whose members are all deaf, save for the daughter. She has ambitions to sing but is stuck between following that dream and helping her family. Daniel Durant, who plays the son, told Reuters that move, reportedly worked on by Apple in collaboration with theater companies, “is historic. It is huge for all of us. This is a day we have waited to see for so many years.”
Sian Heder, who wrote and directed CODA, also recounted the reaction of a deaf man at an open caption screening in Gloucester, Massachusetts:
He was, like, ‘I don’t go to the movies. I can’t wear those glasses. They make me nauseous. Half the time they don’t work so I’ve just stopped going to the theater.’ He hadn’t seen a movie in the theater in 10 years and he was very moved and excited.