From May 4 to 7, 2011, the city of Nice will host an unprecedented cinematic event: the European Dubbing Days.
“In audiovisuals, the language of cultural diversity is dubbing,” said a recent general secretary of the CNC. A heavy mission assigned to the professionals of this sector! Aware of their responsibility, they fulfill it with joy, as their professions are driven by the immense pleasure of creation, a pleasure they love to share with their audience. They take part in the European Dubbing Days to continue the approach they live year-round. This original encounter indeed presents all the workings of dubbing as seen by the participants themselves, starting with their engine, a text written according to very specific criteria.
Exclusivities, premieres, TV series, documentaries, and live dubbing experiences will punctuate an event that, a few days before the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, will take an original place in the cinematic and cultural landscape of the City of Nice. Films shot in English, Italian, German, or even Farsi will be screened sometimes in French or Italian, sometimes subtitled, always presented by artists, authors, or performers who participated in their creation. This meeting point among professionals from different traditions and paths will unveil to the public the alchemy at play so that they can see on television, at the cinema, or on DVD, audiovisual works in dubbed versions. It will constitute the first edition of an event that will gradually expand to more countries.
For fans of original versions as well as dubbed versions, the European Dubbing Days will offer a unique opportunity to meet artists, authors, and performers who have worked on the dubbed versions of the proposed films. They will also allow discovering the mechanisms that govern a job often enigmatic.
Jean-Louis Sarthou, Artistic Director of the Days
With unpublished films, presented exclusively and TV series, the professions behind the scenes will be honored since many authors, actors, and directors will come together to present to the public a world as enigmatic and fascinating as dubbing…
Meetings around an unpublished work by Wim Wenders, “Rendezvous in Palermo,” films by directors like Michael Winterbottom or Ferzan Ozpetek, and an independent film shot in Iran, in the presence of its director Nader T. Homayoun.
Premiere of the Italian sitcom “Fuori sync” and meeting around the series “How I Met Your Mother.”
About the Days….
The opening night will pay tribute to independent cinema, with the participation of Iranian director Nader T. Homayoun, who will present the premiere of the French dubbed version of his film Tehran, in the company of his French adapter.
The following afternoons will see the Cinematheque of Nice transform into a dubbing studio. It will host actors, seasoned in this technique of interpretation, who will undertake an unprecedented exercise: recording several French versions written by students from the University of Nice on the same film excerpts. The experience will lead to collective comments, in which the public will be invited to participate.
The programming will honor the tradition of the Italian dubbing school, with a recent Wim Wenders film shot in several languages and unpublished in France, Palermo Shooting (Rendezvous in Palermo). After this version dubbed in Italian and subtitled in French, the Italian journey will continue in Rome, with Facing Windows, by Italo-Turkish filmmaker Ferzan Ozpetek, presented in two different versions. It will conclude in Genoa, with An Italian Summer (Genova) by Michael Winterbottom, a film shot in English and starring Colin Firth, recently awarded at the Oscars. Likewise, it will be seen once subtitled and once in the dubbed version, during the closing evening.
Saturday morning will be dedicated to the young audience, with the screening of an episode of one of the most appreciated current series: How I Met Your Mother. The session will be followed by a meeting with guests who worked on the French version of the series and a unique and improvised dubbing experience, in which the audience will be invited to participate.
The afternoon will continue with two testimonies on the universe in which we will have immersed throughout these days. A documentary on the professions of dubbing in France made by an adapter, then, as a premiere, an episode of a new series designed for television: Fuori Sync (Desynchronized). This Italian sitcom, with its original tone, ventures behind the scenes of the dubbing world. Shortly before the start of the closing night, a round table bringing together professionals from both countries will launch the main lines of a provisional assessment.
