Sundance jury members walk out of ‘Magazine Dreams’ screening after captions fail

The world premiere of American film ‘Magazine Dreams’ at the Sundance Film Festival saw a dramatic walk out of jurors Marlee Matlin, Jeremy O Harris and Eliza Hittman. This happened after a wireless closed-captioning device for jury member Marlee Matlin, the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award, did not function at the start of the screening.

Matlin and her fellow jurors, Jeremy O. Harris and Eliza Hittman, who have been watching all the competition titles together, left the theatre so they could watch it together later.

The device was fixed a few hours later and the festival reported that the jurors will screen the film again before the event ends on January 29.

In a statement shared with The Associated Press, Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said, ‘Our team immediately worked with the devices in that venue to test them again for the next screening and the device worked without any malfunction. Our goal is to make all experiences (in person and online) as accessible as possible for all participants. Our accessibility efforts are, admittedly, always evolving and feedback helps drive it forward for the community as a whole.’
‘We are committed to improving experiences & belonging for all festival attendees. We consider accessibility as one of the primary drivers of institutional excellence and this work is done in partnership with film teams,’ the statement concluded.

‘Magazine Dreams’, directed by Elijah Bynum, stars Jonathan Majors as a Black bodybuilder with self-destructive qualities. The actor has been receiving great reviews for his performance.

Also Watch I 'Bholaa' teaser: Ajay Devgn and Tabu are all set to fight an intense battle