The annual Autumn School of Audiovisual Translation took place on 27-28 November, titled Accessible Film Festivals (translation, subtitling, inclusion).
The organisers doc. Perez and doc Zahorák from the Department of Translation Studies put together a highly engaging and interesting two days that attracted students, alumni and early career translators from all over Slovakia.
The introduction was dedicated to the question of film title translations. Jaroslav Hochel, an expert in this field, introduced various strategies for translating films and made us aware of the most common pitfalls in the process. The following talk by Lucia Čuriová offered valuable tips for young translators on how to collaborate with film festivals, as well as about the early stages of a translator’s career. The practical workshop at the end of the first day was led by doc. Emília Perez and introduced approaches to subtitles from the perspective of hearing audiences, hard of hearing audiences as well as audiences with cognitive impairments.
The second day of the event opened with a talk by doc. Perez on the question of accessibility and inclusion, and pointed out that a good experience from events such as film festivals can be problematic for a number of visitors, as well as the fact that accessibility is not “only” a matter of people with disabilities, as it is often presented. She further highlighted that an inclusive design of an event for audiences with special needs has to be carefully planned and should be created in collaboration with representatives of all the various audience groups. The next two events were all in Slovak sign language and were overseen by Michal Hefty, a representative of the Association of the Deaf of Slovakia and the coordinator of art programmes for the Deaf. The first part was dedicated to the various barriers the Deaf have to overcome in their daily lives, or if they want to enjoy a culture event. Hefty further emphasised the need to ensure accessibility in collaboration with the community itself. A practical workshop followed, focusing on concrete types of events and the teaching of a few basic signs and rules of communication. The event closed with a discussion with the director of the international film festival One World Eva Križková, who explained the question of inclusion from the perspective of festival organisers. Our Department frequently collaborates on this event, which means that the discussion was both inspirational and a motivation for possible future projects.
This was definitely not the last time I took part in the Autumn School of Translation. I have learnt so much during the two days, including the realisation that events that are fully accessible for me are not always accessible for others. And that we as translators can help with this situation.
Text: Bc. Klaudia Matiková
student at the Department of Translation Studies
Photogallery: doc. PhDr Andrej Zahorák PhD
The event was an output of the project Translation as part of the cultural process history III. Translation and translating – texts, personalities, institutions in inter- and transdisciplinary relations and project KEGA 038UKF-4/2022 Precedentness as a Tool in Testing and Improving the Intercultural Competence of Students of Translation Studies