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Obrázek autoraKino Brasil

"If the subtitles don't play automatically, you sometimes want me to come to the cinema for a screening and 'unclick' the subtitles." Julie Lukaštíková told us what the work of a subtitler entails.

Aktualizováno: 20. 10.



Irena Melounová, a member of the Kino Brasil team, spoke with the court translator and interpreter and Kino Brasil's most faithful subtitler. Irena revealed to us that they know each other well: "Julie and I have known each other for over twenty years, of course from studying Portuguese philology at the Faculty of Arts, UK, and when I was in charge of organizing subtitles for films at Kino Brasil during my first year, I asked her for help . And Julie's help and ceaseless enthusiasm for each grade has been going on for eleven years."



If the subtitles don't play automatically, then sometimes you also want me to come to the cinema for the screening and "unclick" the subtitles. This means that I sit in the projector's booth for the entire projection, put on headphones, look at the screen through a small window and let each title appear under the screen at the right moment and disappear again in time. If a movie has, say, 1000 subtitles, that means I have to click 2000 times. And yes, sometimes I just mess up, I'm not a robot.:) - Julie

[Irča] Julie, you subtitled eleven films for us, some of which also included greetings from the directors, we bought some of your subtitles because you had already produced them for other customers, you even prepared for us the children's animations of Tarsilinha and Perlimps, which you then in a very funny and exciting voice, interpreted the characters directly into the headphones for the children in the cinema. Would you mention the films that caught your attention the most?

[Julie] I like the variety of artistic and linguistic ideas of Brazilian animations, so the great directors and actors will be excused, but Tarsilinha and Perlimps animations won for me. But their simultaneous interpretation crossed with an attempt at dubbing for children was quite a challenge.


[Irish] I found their list, hopefully it will be complete: O som ao redor, Que horas ela volta?, Curumim, Joaquim, Aos Teus Olhos, Bacurau, Kleber's short films, Três Verões, Tarsilinha, Medida Provisória, Paloma, Perlimps and this year's O Buscador.


[Irča] Surely you have seen other Brazilian films that caught your attention?

[Julie] I'm terribly bad at movie titles, but when I do a lot of research, Aquarius appealed to me a lot and I can't leave Paloma out, it's my love (not only because I've played the subtitles for it maybe 100 times).


[Irča] This year you are working on the subtitles for the film O Buscador (The Seeker), who would you recommend it to? What movie is this?

[Julie] For me, the film is unexpectedly powerful, it shows not only corrupt Brazilian politics, but also corrupt relationships in a well-to-do family, in a very intense form. I don't like it when someone tells me about a movie before I watch it, so I won't say more. But don't expect any superficial tea at five o'clock.


[Irča] What does the subtitler's job actually entail?

[Julie] For me, subtitles are somewhere on the border between written translation and spoken word in interpreting. It is not possible to translate the subtitles by translating everything the characters say, because the viewer would only read and not see anything from the film. So it is necessary to fit the important things into the precisely given maximum number of characters. If the subtitles don't play automatically, then sometimes you also want me to come to the cinema for the screening and "unclick" the subtitles. This means that I sit in the projector's booth for the entire projection, put on headphones, look at the screen through a small window and let each title appear under the screen at the right moment and disappear again in time. If a movie has, say, 1000 subtitles, that means I have to click 2000 times. And yes, sometimes I just get confused, I'm not a robot. :)


[Irča] In addition to subtitles, you probably translate a lot of other types of texts that you deal with more often? 

[Julie] Recently, I most often do court-certified translations of various registry documents, contracts and official documents of state authorities. The names of Brazilian citizens never cease to amuse me. I always think how impoverished we are when we are so strictly limited as to what we can call ourselves.


[Irča] You actually already mentioned that you are also a court interpreter and translator, in layman's terms "you have a round stamp", so that means that you are hired by state institutions?

[Julie] I am contacted by private individuals, companies and state authorities as well. Working for the latter is a bit more bureaucratic, but I won't go into details, so readers would rather come to the cinema.


[Irča] Will you leave us a contact if someone wants to use your services?

Certainly.


[Irča] Readers can find you, for example, on the navolnenoze.cz portal, and we will put your contacts at the end of the interview.


[Irča] I think that today a lot of people will say to themselves that they "go to Google" or "ChatGPT", aren't you afraid of the future of your field?

[Julie] This is of course a very current topic. Artificial intelligence can already do a lot of things today, but it is still in the "good servant but bad master" stage. Artificial intelligence still does not have a feeling for language, its nuances, and it is very interesting, for example, that it has significant problems with consistency. Specifically, this means that if you have the same term repeatedly in one paragraph, for example "general meeting", it is quite possible that it will be translated differently each time. Generative AI (such as ChatGPT) also has an amazing ability to spit out text that looks completely believable, yet contains major errors or even omits something. So currently as an aid, yes, but under very strict supervision.


[Irča] You have a very extensive resume, many people cannot imagine the amount of knowledge and, above all, experience, that an excellent interpreter like you must have. What do you consider to be key skills in your profession?

[Julie] I won't give you an exhaustive list, but I am convinced that, in addition to language skills and the greatest possible general overview, the ability to quickly react to changes, unexpected situations, not to be taken aback, and empathy, the ability to "read", is essential for an interpreter. what people say other than words. And you also need endurance, both physical and mental.


[Irča] What about fiction? Are you tempted to translate some great work of Brazilian or Portuguese literature?

[Julie] It is said that an interpreter and a translator are not only two different professions (although most people outside the industry do not distinguish between them at all) but also two different personality types. The translator tends to be rather introverted, patient, his work sometimes has to "sit out". And the interpreter is the quick improviser who, for example, interprets an audit of the production of insulating glass all morning and during the lunch break a conversation about the cabal and the history of European wars (this actually happened to me) and still has to manage to diplomatically divert the conversation when asked about his own opinion on the current political situation. So the answer to your question is: I am much more of an interpreter than a translator at heart, and I leave the literary works to professionals.


[Irča] Has it ever happened to you that someone really took you so completely by surprise that it was difficult to get over it?

[Julie] It's hard sometimes, but we've been taught since school that we have to "get out of it somehow". Of course, I'm only human and there are just things I don't know or forget. And sometimes it's time to just admit it. I am more surprised when someone has the "behavior of a butcher's dog" or abuses his position.


[Irča] How do you relax from such intellectually and socially demanding work?

[Julie] When I know that I am going to interpret something that is also personally challenging for me (e.g. divorce, interrogation), then I definitely plan something positive. Something good, an exhibition, a meeting with someone close. I often go swimming, it clears your head figuratively and literally. And I also discovered hand weaving a few years ago. Did you know that the word text has its basis in the Latin word textum? That means fabric. So it's actually quite logical that the translator also became a weaver. Moreover, my work as a translator and interpreter is largely invisible, while the fabric is a very tangible matter. It complements beautifully.

[Irča] Those scarves are beautiful - you make them according to your own style and sell some of them - but I would probably keep them all if I were you - or do you weave to order and the clients choose the colors and maybe even the width of the stripes?

[Julie] Thank you for the compliment. Most of the scarves didn't get very warm at my house, they were already for someone else. But now I'm slowly starting to have room for orders as well. I don't really guarantee the exact width of the stripes, but I enjoy creating for a specific person. It is best if we agree on the material and colors and then the customer says something like "I'll leave the rest to you".


[Irish] Is it faster to weave a scarf or to subtitle a film?

[Julie] That's a great question, I've never looked at it that way. But I would say that it will come out somewhat similar. And it's similar in that you make the main volume and then there are a lot of details, small actions and finishing touches, without which it's simply not done.


[Irča] You can view the beautiful scarves on the IG profile @ona_tka and the best way to contact Julie Lukaštíková is via e-mail ju.lukastikova@gmail.com, where you can send her a sample of what she can translate and stamp for you.


Did you know that the word text has its basis in the Latin word textum? That means fabric. So it's actually quite logical that the translator also became a weaver. Moreover, my work as a translator and interpreter is largely invisible, while the fabric is a very tangible matter. It complements beautifully.

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