FYI. This controversy continues. Here is another article on it, (Fwd
from ILAT)... DZO


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/2005032
9/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 anon-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,
asthey 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.

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