“Distributors find it pointless to come back to dubbing films in Russian”

Ukrainian actors, writers, and musicians appealed to Viktor Yanukovych, asking him to prevent the removal of film dubbing in Ukrainian as “not only the most rapidly developing industry in Ukraine today, but also a considerable intellectual heritage.” This was mentioned in the open letter to the President of Ukraine signed, among others, by Bohdan Beniuk, Bohdan Zholdak, Oleksii Khostikoiev, Sashko Polozhynsky, Viktor Morozov, Irena Karpa, Anatolii Dnistrov, Liudmyla Taran, Larysa Denysenko, and other prominent figures in the spheres of culture and public life. The full text of the appeal can be found at kino-pereklad.org.ua.

The signers of the letter blame “utterly irresponsible actions of certain politicians and state officials” for the threat to Ukrainian dubbing.

“Ukrainian dubbing has become a true intellectual heritage. Moreover, it is a joint intellectual heritage of both Ukrainian and Russian citizens of our country: actors, directors, translators who took part in its creation, and also viewers who said ‘yes’ to the Ukrainian-language dubbing throughout the country by going to the cinema en masse,” maintain the authors of the letter.

The artists write that “a handful of individuals... have launched a mass campaign aimed to discredit it [Ukrainian dubbing – ed.].” They then adduce several of the most widespread myths, in particular, those of the reduction of the number of viewers and the closing down of cinemas due to the introduction of Ukrainian-language shows, as well as those of the violation of Russian-speaking citizens’ constitutional rights.

“Thus, we would like to inform you that ‘after the Constitutional Court passed the ruling on the translation of foreign films into Ukrainian, a steady increase in the number of viewers in Ukrainian cinemas has been recorded. Thus, in 2009, the number of viewers grew by 15 percent compared to the previous year.”

Since the beginning of this year, the figures have grown by as much as 19 percent. Only recently new equipment, including that for 3D shows, has been installed in 40 cinemas,” says the letter.

The appeal also refutes the claims of the Russian speaking population’s rights being abused: “Russian-made films, shown with the original Russian sound track, comprise no less than 30 percent of the Ukrainian film market.”

The dubbing of films in Ukrainian has become, in the signers’ opinion, a salvation both for the Ukrainian movie industry and for actors. “Ukrainian film production is now in a state of extreme neglect. Under these conditions, it is dubbing that became a form of school for young actors, who suffer from the absence of a full-fledged Ukrainian film industry. Given the lack of funds for Ukrainian theaters and for Ukrainian artists in general, and actors in particular, dubbing has become a substantial source of material subsistence.”

Our readers will remember that in late December, 2007, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine published a ruling under which all the copies of foreign films should be translated into Ukrainian and dubbed or subtitled. At the moment, this ruling caused an uproar among some distributors in the industry, allegedly associated with the Russian movie business.

The publishing of an appeal to the president of Ukraine was initiated by certain NGOs, in particular, the civic movement “Don’t Stand Aside!” and the civic initiative Kinopereklad (Film Translation).

Andrii HERASYM, a representative of Kinopereklad, related to The Day that, according to his sources, the Cabinet of Ministers had just been discussing the necessity of dubbing films into Ukrainian. “That is why we wanted to bring the problem of its possible cancellation to public attention,” explained Herasym, speaking about the motives which prompted the letter.

“The fact that this process involves a huge number of people, and that it is a certain intellectual product, created by our cultural elite – one of very few in this country, is completely ignored,” deplored Herasym.

He also added that meanwhile, “without a certain coercion on the part of the regime, it is pointless for big distributors to go back to Russian dubbing. Speaking of the distributors who work directly with [domestic] movie companies rather than with branches of Russian companies” – I have not heard a single suggestion to cancel dubbing in Ukrainian, although there are some who see it critically.

“It is just a question of material motivation, for the boom still continues, both financially, and in the numbers of viewers who come to cinemas. Besides, the firms working with film producing companies receive funds for dubbing directly from foreign producers. That is to say that dubbing expenses are in no way reflected in ticket prices because they are covered. Our actors and directors get paid with money from abroad. Besides, let us remember that the Ukrainian film distribution industry only sprung into existence after Ukrainian dubbing was made obligatory. Before that our distribution system was but a segment of the Russian market.”

That is why Herasym believes that pedaling the question of the appropriateness of Ukrainian dubbing is first and foremost a political phenomenon. “Business interests of Russian companies are certainly involved, but the interests of a handful of mediating companies are hardly worth redistributing the market for their sake,” he said and summarized, “Backroom deals are still not over.”

“I signed this letter because I can see how the idea of a possible cancellation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling is propagated,” said Liudmyla TARAN, a poet, literary critic, and journalist. “The public is being brainwashed to the effect that it is unprofitable and infringes someone’s interests. This is an unbelievable situation for a country which claims to be developing its legal system. The movement ‘Don’t Stand Aside!’ was among the initiators of this action. I think each of us must bear this slogan in mind.”

Conversely, the actress Natalia SUMSKA told The Day that although her name was put on the list of the signers, it was the first time that she had ever heard of the open appeal. “I do not know if there is any need to send such a letter now that the Ukrainian dubbing industry is at its height,” said the actress. “Some works are better, and some are worse, but Ukrainian dubbing does exist. The only problem is its efficient management, and defining the criteria of its quality.”

At the moment, there is a working group created within the Ministry of Culture whose mission is to analyze the practice of applying legislative norms to the dubbing, post-synching, and subtitling of movies. According to the Ministry’s website, the working group was made of the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, the National Union of Cinematographers, several MPs, CEOs of the leading national TV channels, film producers, distributors, and film directors. A regular sitting of the working group was held recently. The Day is looking forward to receiving information on its outcome from the press service of the Ministry of Culture.