TV host and translator Michael Bueckers spent Monday morning with 10 other foreign experts at the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio. Together, they dubbed a five-minute long animated video, which introduces the dubbing process used by Chinese producers for over 60 years.The video was divided into several parts, with each part dubbed into a single foreign language: English, Indonesian, Czech, Arabic, Russian, Turkish and Swahili. Even though the translation of the script was completed in advance, the recording still took the group more than two hours. The entire recording process was part of an experiment in trying to find better ways to dub Chinese works into foreign languages. 

A difficult task

Bueckers handled the English dub. Hailing from the US, he has lived in China for over 13 years and speaks fluent Chinese. Translating the script for Chinese series Moment in Peking into English, he was also the dubbing director and a voice actor for the Chinese TV series Police Stories of Yingpan Town, the English version of which has been broadcast in several countries in Africa and South Asia.

"I have not seen many people who dub Chinese works into English in China. There is almost nobody, maybe one or two," Beuckers told the Global Times. "The reason being that there isn't much demand and the cost of dubbing is high."

From what Beuckers has seen, most American viewers aren't used to watching dubbed TV shows or films. Most prefer reading subtitles, since they are afraid of losing the original flavor when it comes to the emotion and tones of actors. "If our dubbing techniques can reach international standards, maybe American viewers will prefer watching dubbed works," Beuckers added.

The Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio has had great success translating and dubbing works from 20 languages and more than 40 countries into Chinese. Now, it is trying to export Chinese works in a way that will attract foreign viewers.

A long journey

When Chinese audiovisual works first tried going abroad, they did so by attending international film festivals. However, the first attempt by a Chinese movie to go abroad was not successful. Chinese film Ren Sheng, produced by the Xi'an Film Studio, was submitted for the 1985 Oscar Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it went home without even a nomination. According to Li Yizhong, vice chairman of the Chinese Collegial Association for Visual Art and dean of the Department of Film and Television of Shanghai Jiaotong University, this was partly due to the studio's lack of understanding of the competition's rules and regulations.

In 1985, the Chen Kaige directed film Yellow Earth won a number of international prizes including the Silver Leopard Prize at the 38th Locarno International Film Festival. It was the first Chinese movie to succeed overseas, Li said.

In 1988, Chinese film Red Sorghum opened the window for Chinese films at international film festivals. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the film won the Golden Bear for Best Picture at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, making the director famous worldwide. In 2004, his film Hero also became a hit in American commercial cinemas. Many in the US media called it one of China's most successful cultural exports.

 In the 1990s, China began to cooperate with international media corporations to translate and dub its TV and film works into foreign languages.

According to Ma Runsheng, president of the China Radio, Film and Television Programs Exchange Center, China now provides over 10,000 hours of audiovisual media to international markets annually. These programs are screened in almost 20 languages in 200 countries and regions. From 2012 to 2014, 77 audiovisual works totaling 1,995 episodes were translated and dubbed.

For example, the Chinese documentary A Bite of China was translated, dubbed and aired on national TV in Kazakhstan. Media producers from Kazakhstan also plan to translate and dub Chinese TV series Family on the Go and movie Genuine Love for viewers in Kazakhstan, said Nussipzhanov Yertay, from the production studio REC Media Co., Ltd in Kazakhstan.

The recent Chinese TV series The Empress of China has already gained popularity in Vietnam. Chinese classical works such as Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber have also been welcomed by Vietnamese viewers because the two countries share similar cultures, lifestyles, values and ethics, said Nguyen Le Chi, CEO of Le Chi Culture and Communications Ltd.

Challenges ahead

A still from Family on the Go. Photo: CFP

Top: Jona Widhagdo Putri Photo: Yang Lan/GT

In 2014, China produced 600 films that earned a total of $5 billion at the domestic box office, ranking second in the world behind the US, said Zhang Min, division chief of the International Cooperation Department of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. However, there is still room for improvement when it comes to getting Chinese works overseas.

First, China still does not have enough professional foreign language voice actors, which makes it difficult to dub Chinese works into foreign languages. The most common practice is for Chinese scripts to be translated into English, and then have foreign media companies retranslate or add subtitles to these works.

Furthermore, the quality of translation still needs improvement. According to Deanna Gao, the founding president of the France-China Film Festival and a translator who has translated over 100 Chinese films into French, subtitles for Chinese films are not well made. She mentioned that the summary for the Chinese film The Promise was once translated as "a murder case caused by a piece of bread" in French.

Translation is very challenging. It requires the translator to understand both cultures and use precise language to express the meaning of the characters from the original work. Which works are suitable for export is also something that needs to be seriously considered.

"China needs to consider the conditions of the receiving country when exporting its works, including its culture, religion, and traditions. For example, Indonesia has the biggest population of Muslims in the world. When China exports its works to Indonesia, it should try to avoid showing too much skin in scenes and the consumption of pork," Jona Widhagdo Putri, a lecturer specializing in international relations at the University of Indonesia and a Chinese-Indonesian interpreter told the Global Times. 

The 2015 Sino-Foreign Audiovisual Translation and Dubbing Cooperation Symposium was held during this year's Shanghai International Film Festival. More than 50 experts from over 20 countries came to discuss issues related to translation and dubbing.  On Saturday, after the symposium, the Sino-foreign Audiovisual Translation and Dubbing Cooperation Initiative was released. The document called for increased cooperation between Chinese and foreign companies on film translation and dubbing, so that outstanding film and TV works may break through language barriers to reach viewers in different countries.