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Movie told, emotions shared between whisperer and visually impaired watchers
About 40 blind and visually impaired people were invited to watch a movie at a Central Jakarta mall on Jan. 12 with the assistance of whisperers: people who describe the movie to the former.
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Visually impaired men, accompanied by volunteers, attend the Blind Date Cinema event at Paviliun 18 in South Jakarta on Jan,.14, 2018. A similar event was held on Jan.12 at a mall in Central Jakarta by crowdfunding platform KitaBisa. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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s soon as the lights went out at a theater in the CGV Cinema at FX Sudirman Mall in Gelora, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, and the movie started playing on the screen, Ersha Derystia, 24, began to explain what she saw to her visually impaired partner: She had volunteered to become a whisperer.
The theater room filled with the buzzing sound of dozens of whisperers describing a movie entitled Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini (One Day We’ll Talk About Today) to about 40 blind and visually impaired people invited to the Nonton Bareng Teman Netra (Watching Movies with Visually Impaired Friends) event held on Jan. 12, which was initiated by crowdfunding platform KitaBisa.
Ersha said since it was her first time volunteering as a whisperer, she was anxious in the beginning. However, after seeing her partner shed tears at one point of the movie, she knew that she was doing a pretty good job at describing the movie.
“It was a totally new experience for me, but my partner said I did a great job. It made me very happy, knowing that I have done a good deed for them,” she said. “I definitely will join future events as a whisperer for them.”
Ersha revealed that she was asked to join the event after donating in one of KitaBisa’s campaigns about a month ago.
She said people from KitaBisa contacted her via a WhatsApp call and invited her to become a whisperer for the Jan. 12 event.
“Initially I hesitated because I did not have any experience whatsoever being a whisperer.”
