Ukrainian dubbing policies--Kyiv Post Article 1

[Harold Schiffman]

Forwarded Fromedling at lists.sis.utsa.edu



Ukrainians prefer Soviet tradition of dubbing
by Elisabeth Sewall, Assistant Editor
Feb 28 2008, 02:16
 (c) KP Media, photo by Konstantin Klimenko

A movie-goer ponders whether to view a dubbed movie. Unlike their
European counterparts, Ukrainians prefer dubbed films rather than
those with subtitles.

The current debate in Ukraine about film­dubbing is particularly
sensitive, because unlike most of their European counterparts,
Ukrainians prefer to watch movies with dubbed­over voices, rather than
in their original languages with subtitles.
"By tradition and by far, dubbing is more popular in Ukraine," said
Bohdan Batrukh, the chief executive officer and owner of B&H
Distribution Co., an official distributor of Disney, Sony, and other
Hollywood majors in Ukraine.
The dominance of dubbing in Ukraine is rooted in the Soviet era, experts said.
Regardless of where they lived, all Soviet citizens watched films
dubbed into Russian since the 1930s, after sound emerged, says Oleksiy
Fedynsky, a film critic and curator of the film club at the National
University of Kyiv­Mohyla Academy.
Since much of the population at the time was illiterate, dubbing films
was the only option, he added.
The tradition continued throughout Soviet rule, when only select
members of society were allowed to study foreign languages and films
from the West were rarely shown in cinemas.
In comparison, Polish theaters began showing films with subtitles
immediately after World War II, Batrukh said.
To this day, Poles "mostly do subtitling and they believe that the
voices of the original actors are important to be heard," Batrukh
said, the exception being children's films, which are dubbed into
Polish.
While Ukraine continues its dubbing tradition, the question is no
longer a matter of national policy, but determined by profitability
for film distributors and the tastes of Ukrainian movie­goers.
Yet a choice between dubbing and subtitles is rarely available,
because theaters receive films through distributors that have already
dubbed them, said Liudmyla Gordeladze, director of the city's first
cinema, Zhovten, built in 1930.
During Soviet times, it was known as State Cinema 9. Today it is
considered an art house cinema, showing lesser­known releases often
not shown at Kyiv's mainstream, commercial cinemas.
"If we do receive a film in its original language with subtitles, then
it was because of a special film festival or event, and we have
special showings, Gordeladze said.
During Soviet times, subtitles were provided only for deaf people and
those studying languages, she said.
Given the option, Zhovten would prefer to show more original versions.
"We want to mainly request such subtitled films because we know that,
in Podil, there is enough of a clientele that would be interested in
this," Gordeladze said.
"But in principle, we have to be careful with this," she added,
because the majority of movie­goers are not always open to this
option.
Only 30 percent of movie­goers would prefer subtitles, she estimated.
Given the law requiring Ukrainian subtitles or dubbing, even people
who consider Ukrainian their native language have a limited
vocabulary, Gordeladze said.
"If you print subtitles the way they should be, then people start
asking what some of the words mean," she said.
Younger and more educated people prefer subtitling, she said, and as
Ukraine's urban population becomes more educated, then more cinemas
can show movies in their original language, as in Poland.
For film distributors, dubbing has been the more profitable option,
distributors said.
While subtitling can be markedly cheaper than dubbing a film, this is
only true in some cases, Batrukh said.
On big releases, when his company must create around 100 prints of a
film for distribution to cinemas, the dubbing process is cheaper than
subtitling.
Subtitles cost about $1,000 per print to make, whereas quality dubbing
is a fixed cost between $35,000­40,000 per film.
"If you are talking about big releases – over 50 prints – dubbing is
much cheaper than subtitling," Batrukh said. "If you are talking about
20 prints, subtitles are cheaper."
In Batrukh's view, the preference for dubbing over subtitles remains
largely untested by film distributors in any real way.
The Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men," a dark Hollywood crime
thriller that recently won the Best Picture Oscar, will be B&H's first
big test, set for a March release with only Ukrainian subtitles.
If people want subtitles, "obviously the market will deliver," he added.
Quality is another concern, as both Russian and Ukrainian dubbings are
poor, in the view of Fedynsky.
"People complain about how there are only a handful of Russian actors
who perform dubbings," he said. "The problem is even worse for
Ukrainian dubbing, so subtitles would be a good thing."
However, Gordeladze said the audience for Ukrainian­dubbed films isn't
less in her theater than for Russian versions.
In time, Ukrainians will grow a preference for subtitles, Fedynsky said.
"As more Ukrainians study English and want to become closer to
European countries, this tradition might change," he said.

Source:  http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/28488/


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