Petr Alexander: the man in charge of providing subtitles to movies at the Karlovy Vary festival

The International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary is drawing to a close and film fans are cramming cinema halls to see as much as they can in the remaining 24 hours. But few of those watching the movies get a look behind the scenes or find out how much hard work and preparation has gone into making the festival a success. Some time ago I met with Petr Alexander who is responsible for providing subtitles to the films shown at the festival. For him and his team of translators, the festival starts much earlier than for the rest of us:

“The first films started to arrive in January and February. But most of them will come during the last two months. The time of the arrival depends on other festivals, especially the festival in Cannes.”

Can you describe the whole process of subtitling? What does it involve?

“Everything depends on the translation. If the translation is OK, the following process is quite easy and smooth. We have to put every subtitle to the right time code in the film. We have a software programme which makes the process as fast as possible. So we can process around three to five films a day, which is necessary for this kind of event.”

But it’s not an ordinary translation. You have to chop the text into subtitles, don’t you?

Photo: Štěpánka Budková

“The subtitle must really reflect the content of the film but at the same time it needs to be short enough so that people have enough time to read it comfortably.”

Once the subtitles are ready, is your work over?

“Subtitling of movies for a copy is one thing. These subtitles are imprinted right onto the copy. But what we are using here at the festival is electronic projection of subtitles. We are actually projecting the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.”

So it means that at every projection there must be someone who is responsible for the smooth operation of subtitles…

Photo: Štěpánka Budková

“That’s right. There are technicians who fix any delays or other problems with the time code. They make sure that every subtitle fits with the right time code.”

Does it mean that you actually see every single one of the films that are being subtitled?

“I think I see most of them.”

Do you still enjoy them as much as you did the first year?

“I think it has changed. During the first years, I was overloaded. But now I have gained a certain distance and I like it very much, maybe even more. I am not as emotionally involved as I used to be. I think I found a position as an observer.”