Northern voices, foreign tongues (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Northern voices, foreign tongues

Producers are up in arms over a decision by the Aboriginal Peoples
Television Network to replace subtitles with dubbing

By SARAH EFRON
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 Page R1
Special to The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050329/ABORIGINAL29/TPEntertainment/Film

Inuit film and television productions are going to end up sounding like
badly dubbed kung-fu movies. That's the fear of Zacharias Kunuk,
director of the 2001 film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), which was shot
entirely in the Inuit language, Inuktitut, and was shown around the
world with subtitles. Kunuk is joining other filmmakers and politicians
in Nunavut to speak out against the Aboriginal Peoples Television
Network's new policy of asking producers to dub their programming into
other languages instead of subtitling them.

"We've been producing films for 15 years and we've never had any trouble
producing in Inuktitut," Kunuk says. "Now it's the one TV network that
belongs to us aboriginal people of Canada that's giving us a problem.
It feels like we're moving backwards."

Kunuk spoke at an emotionally charged public consultation last month in
Iqaluit, Nunavut, that was organized by the Aboriginal Peoples
Television Network (APTN). Inuit elders and film and video producers
voiced concerns that the network's move to dub aboriginal-language
programming into French and English could damage the territory's
fledgling TV and film industry and roll back efforts to promote
Inuktitut. However, APTN's CEO Jean LaRose, a member of the Odanak
First Nation in Quebec, says the new policy will have exactly the
opposite effect: It will promote the use of aboriginal languages across
Canada.

The issue flared up after APTN sent out a request for proposals asking
for new dramas, children's shows and series to be dubbed into more than
one language: For example, an Inuktitut drama would be dubbed into
English and French, while a French series would be dubbed into English
and Inuktitut.

LaRose says the move prepares them for the transition to HDTV, which can
carry four tracks of Secondary Audio Programming, allowing the viewer to
select which language they want to listen to. He says this will allow
the network to reach more viewers and generate additional revenue. But
film and video producers who make programming in Inuktitut have reacted
with anger, engaging in a public e-mail debate with LaRose.

John Houston, president of Ajjiit, the Nunavut Media Association, an
advocacy group for the territory's film and television industry, feels
dubbing will reduce the quality of their productions. Houston is a
non-aboriginal filmmaker who is fluent in Inuktitut, and his
APTN-funded programs feature elders speaking their own language with
English subtitles.

"When you watch an elder speaking Inuktitut, you might not understand a
word he's saying, but a lot more is transmitted than just straight
content," Houston says. "You hear the elder pausing. You hear the
earnestness in his voice. Taking away an elder's voice and replacing it
with an English voice feels like an insult to me. It feels wrong."

Feature films like Atanarjuat aren't currently eligible for funding from
APTN, but Houston mentions it as an example of an Inuktitut film that
reached a wide audience while using subtitles.

Houston says if people had the option of listening to an English dub,
many would never hear the beauty of the Inuktitut language. He's also
concerned that if APTN programming is available in English at the press
of a button, young Inuit might not listen in Inuktitut.

Nunavut's minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, Louis
Tapardjuk, recently sent a letter to APTN expressing his concern.

"Speakers of aboriginal languages right across Canada are struggling for
the very survival of their mother tongues and film and television are
very powerful tools to reach out to young people and spark an interest
in their language," Tapardjuk says. "When producers are encouraged to
provide programming with dubbing in English or French, it undermines
our efforts in Nunuvut to promote Inuktitut."

Almost all of APTN's aboriginal-language programming is currently in
Inuktitut, and LaRose says dubbing will help the network diversify its
content.

"I know that in the North right now, there is a great concern about the
rapid loss of the Inuktitut language," LaRose says. "I can understand
their concerns, but at the same time I have to look at the national
mandate of the network, which is to program in as many aboriginal
languages as we can and give every language an opportunity to be heard.
There's been a strong reaction of fear, but we are not trying to take
anything away from the Inuit, we're just trying to give other groups
the same opportunity to hear their own stories."

LaRose says APTN's policies are flexible and he's not closing the door
to subtitled programming. "It's not our preference because we'd rather
have dubbed versions we can use with the Secondary Audio Programming.
However, if a producer says they're doing a documentary with elders and
they are adamant that they don't want other voices speaking for them,
we'll still work with the producer and come to an agreement."

However, LaRose says subtitled programming may be broadcast only on
APTN's northern feed and producers will receive lower licence fees, as
they won't have the additional cost of dubbing. His comments haven't
been much of an assurance to Northern filmmakers, who fear losing their
national exposure and wonder if they'll end up with smaller budgets.

Some worry that by insisting on using subtitles, their proposals simply
won't be approved. And producers like John Houston feel they don't have
any time to waste, as they're documenting the last living elders who
grew up on the land.

LaRose, who is still crossing the country doing public consultations,
hopes the emotional debate will die down as people get more
information.

He says the expectations for the aboriginal broadcaster are extremely
high, and everywhere he goes, native people all want the same thing: to
see more of their own culture on the TV screen.