The Verkhovna Rada will finalize the paragraph of the draft law on the English language, according to which English-language films in Ukrainian cinemas must be shown in the original with Ukrainian subtitles.
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Previously, critics of this clause pointed out that the refusal to dub would lead to the release of actors, the closure of dubbing studios, the loss of cinema audiences and, as a result, the development of piracy, in particular Russian.
The finalization of the presidential bill was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Yevgenia Kravchuk (Servant of the People) on the air of Ukrainian Radio.
Kravchuk does not agree that the bill in its current form “will kill Ukrainian dubbing”, but promises that an additional discussion will be held in the relevant committee regarding “the norms that caused discussion”.
She explained that parliamentarians received “many questions” from citizens, distributors and businesses. In particular, it is not entirely clear how children of preschool age or people with poor eyesight who cannot read subtitles with translation will watch films in the original.
We will definitely discuss this aspect (film dubbing), and it may change,” Kravchuk noted.
Discussions in the committee will begin in mid-July after the submission of alternative bills.
Recall that on Constitution Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted for discussion a new Ukrainian doctrine that determines the priorities for the future transformation of the state. One of these priorities is English. On the same day, the President registered in Parliament the bill 9432 “On the use of English in Ukraine”, which is aimed at promoting the use of English in public spheres of public life.
According to the Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov, his ministry created this bill together with the Ministries of Education and Culture and Information Policy. Among the provisions of the bill is Art. 9, which rocked the film industry. For it says that “foreign films, the original language of which is English, are shown in cinema and entertainment establishments in the original language with subtitles in the state language.”
In 2025, the share of such films should be 50%, in 2026 – 75%, and in 2027 – 100%. And this is actually gradually replacing the Ukrainian dubbing of English-language films (the share of such tapes in the box office is the largest) from cinemas.
People’s Deputy Volodymyr Vyatrovich called this bill anti-Ukrainian and unconstitutional, since it sharply narrows the scope of the Ukrainian language: “We are talking about the destruction of Ukrainian film dubbing as an industry, in particular, the loss of work for numerous industry specialists.”
Source: Racurs
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