Northern voices, foreign tongues

APTN

Northern voices, foreign tongues

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