Karlovy Vary Film Festival: Enjoying a Cup of Tea at the Unusual Pitch Black Café
A The
Czech Pop Idol Aneta Langerová has been enjoying quite a bit of success here in
the Czech Republic
and she’s been using it for a good cause. She staged an open air concert during
the Karlovy Vary
film festival to which she invited a number of special guests – young and
talented singers, who have not been able to make it in the music scene because
they are blind. The concert was in support of a Czech Radio project called
Světluška, which organized a number of events at the festival to bring people
who do not have visual disabilities closer to the world of the blind.
B Dita
Asideu spoke to Martina Kaderková, one of the coordinators of the events: “The
Czech Radio Foundation has a special project, which is called Světluška or
fire-fly. We finance various special aids for the blind such as speaking
computers, optical aids, guiding dogs, and different courses, and we support
young and talented musicians.”
C “We
are standing next to a café that is actually quite unique here. Could you
explain to us what it is?” Dita asked. “It is the first café in the dark that
has been opened in the Czech
Republic. There is
absolute darkness inside the café and we have ten blind staff members, who make
espresso in complete darkness and who guide the visitors to their tables, and
who serve them too. We also have “movie screenings” two times a day but they
are only in audio with very detailed commentary,” Martina answered.
D “The
main aim is to understand what it is like to be blind. It is actually about an
exchange of roles. Inside the café it is the blind guide who you have to rely
on. Outside, the blind often have to rely on us. We help them to cross the
street or other things. The interior differs from regular cafes. Each letter in
Braille has six dots and you use different combinations to form a word. So, we
have six tables in our café. There is one main path that only the waiters and
waitresses move along, so you cannot really get in their way. We would like to
bring this project to Prague and Brno and open a permanent Café in the Dark in Prague. This would bring
employment opportunities because the unemployment rate among the visually
impaired is 75 percent,” Martina Kaderková explains to Dita.
E Dita visits the café: I have been asked
to put my watch and cell phone into my bag just to be sure that there is
absolutely no light in the café and Markéta is just about to show me to my
table. We’re inside and my guide is holding my hand and telling me where to go.
It’s pitch black in here and I have no clue what’s around me. And here is my
table. Markéta has just said goodbye and I shall wait for my waiter. There’s
music playing in the background but it still seems to me like people are
extremely loud in here and I wonder whether it’s just my sense of hearing
making up for the fact that I can’t see…
pitch
black – černý jako uhel
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1
The first café in the dark
2
Světluška finances special aids for the blind
3
Dita’s visit of the café
4
Café in the dark – opportunity for the blind
5
Aneta Langerová supports project Světluška
2) Read the article again and answer the questions.
1
What is the text about?
2
What is Světluška? Who and how does it help? Who does it cooperate with?
3
What is the café in the dark? Describe the place.
4
How does Dita feel in the café?
3) Explain the following words.
1
the blind
2
speaking computer
3
guiding dog
4
Braille
5
employment opportunity
4) Answer the following questions.
What
type of impairment is blindness? What are special aids for the blind? What are
they used for? Who helps the blind?
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