Documentary films translation: approaches and challenges

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive overview of different approaches to translating documentary audiovisual productions. The abundance of documentary films available at online platforms lead to a higher demand for their translation into different languages as the modern tradition in viewing audiovisual content online requires a variety of language choice and modes of translation presentation (subtitling, voice-over, accessibility means for people with auditory and visual challenges). Documentary productions present a separate group of films that can be further classified according to their production methods and the presentation styles. The specificity of each item of the detailed classification calls for an individualized approach to handling the process of translating these productions. Film terminology also requires special attention as it is one of the basic challenges of documentary productions translation.