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Marlee Matlin accepted an Academy Award of Merit – an Oscar statuette – that was created to broadly recognize "all the individuals who have developed and supported captioning technology, whether open or closed, for film," Tuesday evening at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual Scientific and Technical Awards, which were presented at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Oscar-winning actress Matlin has long championed captioning, and on stage she shared her hope that the Oscar statuette, which will reside at the Academy Museum, will bring further awareness of captioning technology and serve as a reminder of the Academy's "commitment to accessibility and inclusion." Calling the Academy the "deaf community's biggest ally" in a conversation with Variety, Matlin saluted it for being at the forefront of new technologies in film, but suggested that there's more work that can be done to advance captioning tech and have it used more broadly, including for classic films as well as new movies.
"We're still on a path towards full accessibility, and the Academy recognizes that equality is very important, that all audiences are welcome in the film going experience and all audiences should be able to watch films together." Popular on Variety Also during the ceremony, which was originally slated to be held on Feb 18 but was postponed amid the L.A.
fires, Technical Achievement Awards (Academy Certificates) and Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques) were...
Carolyn Giardina.
