The University of Hawaii’s Southeast Asian Film Translation Project recently produced two subtitled Vietnamese language films, now available for public viewing in the United States!

BONG SEN (1998) is a remarkable co-production between Algeria and Vietnam. The film won Third Prize at the Seventh Festival of African Cinema in Morocco. In the 1950s, the French Army sent thousands of indigenes, soldiers conscripted from colonies in North Africa, to fight in the so-called “Dirty War” in Indochina. Set against the growing Vietnamese struggle for independence is a love story involving Ali, portrayed by Algerian actor El-Mellouhi Niddal, and Lien (Nguyen An Chinh), a beautiful Viet Minh guerrilla.

PASSERINE BIRD (1962). The Vietnam Film Institute stumbled upon a deteriorating 16mm print of this lost classic which the Hong Kong Film Archive restored and the Center subtitled. The film offers a lyric view of village level resistance to French colonial aggression in Viet Nam in the 1950s. Nga, a young girl, is thrown into the bitter struggles of her fellow countrymen as images of innocent youth are bled away, turning into the steadfastness of nationalist resolve.

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In 2008, the University of Hawaii’s Southeast Asian Film Translation Project produced the first subtitled Burmese language film available for public viewing in the United States.

The Legend of Lady Hill is a supernatural melodrama. When young rich city boy, Tun, visits the town Lady Hill and impetuously flirts with a pretty village girl named Thuzar he unknowingly disrupts a village spirit ceremony. When Thuzar’s husband dies in an accident that evening, she and the rest of the village believe it is the vengeful punishment of Ma Ma U, the protective spirit who guards the village. Thuzar and angry villagers blame the recalcitrant Tun and chase him from the village. Twenty years later the repercussions of this sad event are still being felt. When Tun’s son, La Min, visits the same village and meets the beautiful Pha-yaung Ban, all sorts of trouble befalls them. Have the spirits cursed this couple? Or are more terrestrial forces working to keep them apart?

The Legend of Lady Hill is a soap opera love story transfused with Buddhist ethics and Myanmar’s rich religious culture. Scenes rich with traditional music and religious ceremony will please those with an interest in Burmese culture.

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National Foreign Language Resource Center Fall 2010 Demos and Discussions
Wednesday, October 13, 12:00 pm in Moore 258
Presented by Pia Arboleda, Assistant Professor of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures

Literary texts and films are excellent tools for teaching language and culture. However, for heritage learners, Tagalog texts and Filipino films without subtitles are incomprehensible. Thus, there is a great need for translation and subtitling in order to produce bilingual materials. But the process of translation itself can be used as a tool to teaching Philippine language and culture. This presentation will explain the course design and method of teaching Filipino 435: Translation Theory and Practice. In this course students are asked to transcibe the original text in Filipino. This process hones their listening skills. Next, student conduct research on the historical and cultural background of the film or text they are translating. The process of translation allows them to apply the translation theories they have learned and to exercise critical and creative thought in order to produce an accurate and effective translation.

The presentation includes samples of bilingual materials like film clips, song adaptations, and digital storybooks and how they are used in the classroom.

contact Jim Yoshioka @ sltcc@hawaii.edu | more info

Dr. PIA ARBOLEDA is assistant professor of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures where she teaches ‘Translation Theory and Practice,’ ‘Philippine History and Culture,’ and ‘Philippine Folklore.’ She received her doctorate degree in Language and Literature from De La Salle University, Manila. Prior to joining University of Hawaii at Manoa, she taught Philippine Literature, Language and History at Osaka University for four and a half years. She has translated and subtitled Raymond Red’s “Sakay” and Jon Red’s “Ilusyon.” Dr. Arboleda is now working on the translation and subtitles of Eddie Romero’s “Noli Me Tangere” 13-episode TV series. She is also a poet and creative writer. Her works have appeared in ‘Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotic,’ ‘Kung Ibig Mo: Love Poetry by Women,’ and ‘Essays on Women’, among others.

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