‘CODA’ Breaks New Ground for Movie Theater Audience with Hearing Impairment

First movie to be screened with open, needing no special equipment to begin showing in all U.S. and U.K. movie theaters and showtimes.

It's good news for movie lovers with hearing impairments, as the first movie to be screened with open captions that need no special equipment would be showing in all U.S. and U.K. movie theaters and showtimes. Movies in theaters with captions are very limited and the special glasses and equipment needed to read them are often broken or unavailable in many countries.

CODA which stands for (Child of Deaf Parents) is a coming-of-age story about the only hearing member of a hearing-impaired family. Marlee Matlin, who plays a hearing-impaired mother in the movie said “It couldn’t be more groundbreaking, (just) as the film is groundbreaking in support of the deaf community.”

The Oscar award winner won the award for best actress in “Children of a Lesser god” in 1987. The movie won four awards at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also will be streamed with full subtitles in more than 36 languages on Apple TV+, starting Friday. Among the actors in the movie is Daniel Durant, a deaf actor who plays son, Leo. Child of Deaf Parents, tells the story of a high school student Ruby who has grown up having to interpret for her hearing-impaired father, mother, and brother in situations ranging from doctor visits to their small fishing business. The family communicates with sign language, and all three of the deaf characters are played by deaf actors.